Cloud Cover
by onlyonechairleft
Summary: In the sequel to Sunshine, the Pack in La Push have settled down into their new lives when news from their allies threatens their hard-found peace. Rated for language and  some  lemons. Blackwater.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

A/N: It's back! Yay. The long-awaited (and much anticipated, I'm sure) sequel to Sunshine. If you haven't read that, you probably should because otherwise this won't make much sense.

Massive thank-yous to everyone who read and reviewed Sunshine- I really enjoyed writing it but I needed to take a break and figure out where I wanted to go with the sequel instead of just jumping in head-first. :) But I do apologize for the delay, regardless.

And a special mention to Vague Lenore, who got me back on track for this one. Thank you.

* * *

So, without further adieu… _Cloud Cover. :) _

There was something poking her. This was not pleasant- not when she was pretty sure she knew what it meant and _that_ meant she'd been asleep less than three hours.

Three hours was not nearly long enough for a regular person, never mind a shape shifting wolf-freak who had been on patrol all the previous day and spent most of the evening with her head in the books before… well. The rest of her evening's activities couldn't be blamed on anyone but herself.

That knowledge didn't stop her from growling though and blearily opening one eye. Her growl and the subsequent eye-opening prompted a giggle from the little boy beside her bed. His dark eyes glinted with amusement- something he had inherited from his grandfather- and he poked her again, square in the forehead. Leah growled again and pounced without warning, scooping him into her arms and his laughter was warming enough that any annoyance over being woken early faded. She rolled out of the bed, one arm holding him protectively to her chest, and stood in one fluid movement. She was pretty sure she'd have dropped him if she'd tried that move four years previously.

"Who let you in here, hmm?" Will was barely a year old- he was definitely not opening doors yet. _Yet_, she thought with a grin. She couldn't wait until the little monster could get into everything his parent's had been so diligently hiding behind locked doors. It would be karma of the highest order- she'd had to deal with their crap since she was, oh, born, so it was about time Rachel and Paul learned what it was _really_ like chasing a small child around the reservation. Of course, seeing as Will had an entire Pack of overprotective uncles, including the Alpha who was probably worse than Paul and Rachel put together, she secretly doubted whether the child would ever be allowed to fall and scrape his knees, never mind get into the detergent and fill the entire house with soapy water like Rachel had done when _she_ was three.

Of course, that had been Leah's idea at the time but she was the only one who remembered so she had no trouble blaming the twins for it instead. "Is your uncle Jake out here, laughing to himself and thinking he's sooo clever and funny and shit for siccing you on me?" It shouldn't have amused her- shouldn't have amused any of them- but it did: the boy responded to the term 'get him boy' with a growl and a lunge. It was hilarious, though Rachel certainly didn't think so. From her room, she could hear Jake's answering laugh. Yeah, he was and yeah, he thought he was funny.

"Shit" Her eyes widened, comically, and she stared down at the little boy.

"You did _not_ just say that." He'd been picking up words, recently, alright but mostly it was 'No' and 'Momma' and the occasional 'Da' when he wanted something from Paul. Paul was a complete sucker for it- and Leah was willing to bet that when the kid learned to say Jake, he'd have _two_ giant wolf-men wrapped around his finger completely. Though, that implied that they weren't already. Jake appeared at her side, wearing a startled expression.

"If anyone asks, Embry taught it to him." If anyone- i.e. Rachel- asks, _lie._ And if she pushes further, _lie again_. It was an accepted pattern of behaviour for the two Alphas. Rachel was probably the only person, bar Paul maybe, who intimidated Leah or Jacob anymore- and not because she was scary, because they were clearly scarier, but because she just refused to be intimidated by them. She had been, for a while, until she learned that Jake was far more scared of losing her than he was of her shouting at him. She got added leverage points for being the mother of the first Pack baby, too. They'd do anything for her, or Will.

Part of Leah knew that dedication was a result of almost losing her; the pain and fear that Paul felt at the mere idea of losing her was ingrained in the Pack now in a way that had previously only been present for their Alpha. And it was worse with Will because they all felt the unwavering love and loyalty that his dad and his uncle (and his aunt, she admitted reluctantly) had for him.

It would have been sweet if it had been anyone else, but Leah Clearwater didn't do _sweet_. Of course, tell that to someone who couldn't see her cradling the child's head and cooing that he shouldn't say that word to momma and you might find someone who believes you.

"What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you had patrol this morning." He raised one eyebrow at her in disbelief.

"I _did_. It's after noon already, Lee. Colin and Brady are out there now." He made a face, exasperated with the pair. "I swear to all that is holy, if they bring home another dead squirrel I will get them both castrated." The younger boys had recently developed a… game, of sorts. It involved a complicated scoring system and there was even a colour-coded scoreboard in the basement of Embry's house. Squirrels, wily little creatures that they are, had been decreed the highest score possible.

Jake had refused to let them add deer, bears and dangerous predators to the list- that could be dangerous, if nothing else- so they were forced to get creative with the scoring.

So far, only one of them – Tim- had been brave enough to take on a skunk. The three days of ostracism for Tim following that (there was nowhere downwind enough he could sit to get the scent to fade) meant that none of them were willing to try that again. And it all would have been fine if they didn't all insist on dropping their prey on Jake's doorstep. Or _their_ doorstep, Leah corrected. He'd been living with her and Seth for several weeks- since just before Will turned one. Of course, he'd practically been living there for the year before that, but recent events precipitated his removal from the Black family home. I.e. Becca was back, and apparently she was here to stay.

Jake claimed his need to flee was based on the sheer volume of phone calls and flowers that Ben was showering his estranged wife with but the move hadn't exactly been unexpected. Ever since Sue had moved out (out and into Forks to live in sin with Charlie Swan) the invitation had been on the table for him.

Shit. It was noon, already? She was supposed to be at work for one.

"Thanks for waking me- I've gotta shower." She thrust the child into his arms and disappeared, swaggering a little because she knew he was watching- almost two years together and he still stared when she left a room. It did wonders for a girl's ego.

"Just you and me, huh Will?" The toddler grinned and smacked his uncle on the cheek.

"Shit." He declared proudly. His uncle, who clearly would never, ever admit to being slightly proud of the kid, just smirked.

"Come on kiddo. It's lunchtime." And just like everyone else in his family, there was one way to distract William Black: food.

* * *

Jake was cleaning up the third spoonful of eggs to have 'landed' on the floor when Leah re-emerged, smelling clean and properly dressed, even. She worked around Jake to grab her own lunch and sat next to an amused Will and they both watched the Pack Alpha clean the food from the floor. Leah watched the toddler carefully- he had learned recently that it annoyed his family when he made messes like that, and he was taking advantage of it by waiting until they cleaned one to make another.

Leah was usually able to distract the child long enough to get him to eat, so she did- Jake being grumpy for the rest of the day after getting outwitted by a one-year old was just… not worth it. She'd have to listen to him complain, for one, and that just wasn't on her to-do list.

"Did Jared call this morning?" Jared was in Billings, Montana, where Kim was finishing her training. She only had a few months left before she'd be a certified midwife- something there was a shortage of on the Olympic Peninsula, apparently. Jared was under strict orders to check in every morning, either by phone or by phasing, depending on where he was. He normally called- even though he was staying on the Crow reservation outside Billings and no-one would have questioned the giant wolf wandering their land. He used the phone because he hated being caught unawares, and naked, amongst the Crow people. The Crow shifters thought it the whole situation was hilarious. Jared, needless to say, did not. Jared's living there at all was a test for the Pack- if Jared could survive the torment of being surrounded by the Crows, then Seth would be starting in MSU Billings as a freshman in September. The younger boys were watching carefully, too, trying to plan for the future without really being sure what they could do. Jake wanted them all to go to college, if they wanted to. MSU wasn't the most prestigious college in the country- but it was a good school, and there were plenty of options and it was far enough away that they could have their independence and still be safe. That's what _he_ thought, anyway. They were just reluctant to let the boys go anywhere that they wouldn't have backup so… Diana had offered and Leah had accepted, gratefully. They could do both; be both part of the Pack and live a regular life, hopefully. And so far the experiment had worked- well, Jared hadn't gone crazy yet and he seemed to have made a few friends among the Crows. He was working, too, which was good- he'd been at a loose end for months in La Push, working odd days here and there and never quite having enough to do. Jake was happy to see him content, and looked forward to seeing the same with Seth and the others, later, when they were ready.

"Yeah, at about eight. He called Rachel because the last time _you_ answered the phone here he says you teased him for ten minutes about bringing the nudist beliefs of the Quileutes to the heathen Crows." Jake mock-glared at her but she just grinned, satisfied.

"Serves him right- he called me _Mom._ He referred to me as his _mother_. He's older than I am, Jake." She hadn't been impressed then and she wasn't happy about it now, either. Jake just grinned. Jared had been gone since August- four months, now- and Leah still wasn't ready to admit that she missed him. He'd need to be another thousand miles away for her to admit that. She was happy for him- and Kim- and she was happy to see him working full-time because she knew he'd been going crazy on the reservation. 'Buckets of loco' was how they'd been describing him and it was damn near true. So he was gone, doing the heavy lifting on the Crow reservation in return for lodging in one of the Tribal houses for himself and Kim, and he had another part-time gig in the city, working at a bar frequented by shallow girls with deep pockets. Jake was already scouting locations in Forks for Jared to start up his own bar- though Jared didn't know that. He'd be back; once Kim was qualified, and the Alpha was worried that coming home wouldn't present enough of a challenge for him.

It was Jake's new obsession- making sure that the Pack was looking after their human sides, too. It had been… difficult, dealing with Jared in the months where he was unoccupied, so Leah could only agree. Sam and Paul were different; they'd settled down already- Paul had a child and a wife, Sam had Emily and she had recently announced that she was knocked up, too. They were working for the Ranger service, based out of Forks and while it might not have been ideal, they were happy enough to do it. It paid the bills and they could find their happiness somewhere else. Quil had accepted a position as deputy working with Charlie Swan- it wasn't something he'd ever considered, before, but Quil was as tied to the reservation as Leah and Jacob were. His grandfather was here and he was getting old- Quil would have to take his place, someday, and that day was getting ever closer. And, of course, Claire was nearby. Jacob remembered his fimprint (Leah's term, which had somehow stuck despite his protests) well enough to know that leaving her behind was impossible.

And Embry… Embry had said no to a full ride to WSU in Spokane before he'd even told anyone about it. Jake had gone ballistic and the ensuing fight was a Pack legend.

Embry might have said _no_ to the scholarship, he might have _tried_ to stay home with the Pack but he started in Spokane for the second semester all the same. He was pre-med and Jacob swelled with pride every time he thought about it. It was ridiculous, but it was one hundred percent Jake, so no-one said a word.

"Were you channeling Sue again? Because if you were then you deserved it and you know it." Leah said nothing, just pushed the last of her toast into her mouth as an excuse and then plastered a 'who, me?' expression on her face. Jake didn't bother responding- he knew her well enough, already, to know what she was like.

"You want a ride to work?" It was his day off, so naturally Jake was going to be busy with council stuff. He was just lucky that the council stuff was relatively painless and he could keep Will with him while he worked. Between them, Paul, Rachel and Jake had a system in place for looking after the boy- they couldn't afford day-care and they couldn't afford to have Rachel not work, either. So she worked part-time, three days a week and the boys arranged their days off around the other two days. Jake normally had Will on Mondays. Of course, Becca had been back in La Push for three weeks and had yet to spend a day alone with her nephew.

Leah wasn't sure if it was Rachel or Paul that was nervous of leaving the _other_ Black sister with the child, but she suspected it was Rachel. Becks had come home for the birth, sure, but she knew less than nothing about kids and Rachel was already a worrier. As a result though, Becca was sitting at the kitchen table in the Black house, trawling for jobs and Jake was juggling three- four, if you counted Alpha of the Pack as separate from Chief of the Quileutes. On her nice days, Leah didn't, but on the days that Becks pissed her off, she counted them separately.

"Yeah, please. I'm lazy today." He grinned, disbelieving. Leah only got lazy after sex, if then.

"Get your stuff and I'll get the kid into the car." Will grinned up at his uncle, eggs smashed across his face. Jake made a face at the mess and the little boy giggled. He was cleaned up quickly, with the practiced efficiency of someone who had grown used to cleaning up little boy messes, and strapped into the car seat in the rabbit mere moments before Leah slammed the front door and threw herself off the porch. The trip to the store was quick- Jake was pretty sure that the speed limits didn't apply to him, anyway, and Leah was out the door and out of sight without so much as a goodbye. In the backseat, Will waved goodbye and didn't seem to notice that it wasn't returned.

"You ever get the feeling that we've turned into an old married couple without noticing?" The boy just blinked at him, eyes wide. "Yeah, well, what do you know anyway kid?" They made their way to the community centre, the skies opening just as Jake ducked inside the door. Rain was good- rain meant that fewer people would come looking for him.

The role of Tribal Chief was pretty limited on paper- the reservation had a mayor and a federal representative; the population was low and the people were pretty easy to keep happy. But that was on paper. In reality, the Chief of the Quileutes gave up one afternoon a week to meet with anyone who needed him- for Jake that was Mondays. And on Mondays, every single complaint; death; birth and marriage was reported to him, dutifully, by the concerned parties. He had people older than old Quil coming to him for advice and women Sue's age telling him all about their varicose veins and bad backs.

It should have been tedious; it should have terrified him. But… Jake knew the people of La Push inside-out, now. He knew their secrets; their dreams and their worries in a way that he hadn't thought possible. It meant that when the Pack caught the scent of foreign Vampires on reservation land he had a whole new appreciation for just _who_ they were working so hard to protect. Plus, all the middle aged women felt so sorry for their poor orphaned Chief that they always brought him food. Mondays rocked. He even had an office, tucked away in the back of the centre, where there was high-speed internet and a playpen for the kid.

That afternoon, he was reviewing the hunting license applications- the Pale faces had to apply to hunt on reservation land and, while he normally didn't have an issue with it, there had been some incidents the previous year that meant he was keeping a closer eye on the applicants this time around. He also got final approval on building projects- that was cool. It was legal or whatever, but if the Chief said _no_, the people would back him up. So far, that hadn't been an issue. No-one was that interested in building on the Rez, really. He was just looking forward to the day that Paul came to him asking for permission to extend the Black house because they really did need a second bathroom and (probably) because he needed to build a sound proof room he could lock Becks in before he suffocated her in her sleep.

Becca had been very difficult to live with since she'd left her husband. But really, who was surprised? Ben was a good guy- he was. But Becks had been _eighteen_ when she got married, and she'd married him to escape a place she hated. Was anyone shocked that when she stopped hating the place, she didn't need him anymore? Not to say she didn't love him- she did. Jake didn't doubt that. But when Will was born, Jake had seen it in her eyes- she wanted to be at home. She'd wanted to come back to La Push and see her nephew grow up. He couldn't blame her for that, and he was thrilled to have her home, anyway.

If Ben would stop freakin' calling her, it would be a damn sight easier. At that thought, the phone in the office rang and Jake groaned. Nothing good ever came from answering the office phone. When he wasn't there, it went to voice mail instructing anyone with something important to call his cell. But everyone _knew_ he was there on Mondays so it could be _anything_. The previous Monday, he'd been called to the school to explain to the seniors why finishing school was important. What the hell was _that_ about? He'd barely graduated himself- it's not as if he was some massive proponent of college or whatever.

He answered with a terse "Jacob Black" that made him feel really old and grown up. No hello, no greeting at all. Very Alpha-esque. It was Diana- he _knew_ he shouldn't have answered the call. Diana never had good news- last time she'd called, it had been to ask him to send the boys to Missouri to hunt some rogues. They'd been happy to oblige, of course, but Seth had been injured and Paul had been pissed that Leah was the one who headed the charge. All in all, not a win for Jake. Of course, there were so few Vamps on the continental USA that those calls were few and far between. He hoped, anyway. Who knows what crap Diana had landed herself in on any given day?

"What have you done now?" He questioned, making faces at the receiver, much to Will's amusement. She sighed on the other end, clearly unimpressed.

"What, I can't make a social call just to check in on you?" Had she ever done that before? Not counting that one time after he'd acid-tripped his way around the Rez.

"No. No, you can't. What's up?" His words might have been terse, but there was a certain- tiny- amount of fondness in his tone, too.

"It's nothing, really… your boy, Jared, he's made quite the impression here amongst my people." Oh God. What had he _done?_ Jake held in his breath, waiting. "And some of my young people have expressed an interest in spending some time at La Push. Obviously, I would need your approval before I send them along, so here I am… waiting for approval."

"Let me guess, they're already on their way." She had the grace, at least, to apologize. She'd known he'd say yes- what else _could_ he say? The Quileutes owed the Crows _big_, and they knew it, too. And Diana was not afraid to take advantage.

"The thing is, Jacob, that they _may_ have been given the impression that I was, maybe, banishing them from Montana until the spring." He took it back- no fondness. None.

"And what exactly have they done to deserve this not-a-banishment?" What followed was a rambling explanation involving a Council meeting and an unexpected interruption or three that Jake didn't really even understand. "And what do you want me to do with them?" He didn't have _time _for three errant Crows. Though, having eyes in the sky could be good for patrolling. He grinned, beginning to factor the three in already.

"If you could make their lives difficult for a few weeks, that'd be wonderful. Jared has told everyone here stories of the fierce Alpha wolves of the Olympic Peninsula and I think it would do the children a world of good to see that other young people take their responsibilities seriously." Wait, wait, wait. Young people? _Young_ people?

"Just how young are we talking, Diana?" _Please say twenty. Please say twenty. Hell, I'll take eighteen. Please let them be legal._ He didn't mind babysitting Will, but he didn't need any other children in his care.

"They're no younger than you were when you first phased." Fledglings. She was sending him _fledglings._ He felt his jaw tense and forced it to relax.

"When will they be here and do they know where to go?" He'd have to call Leah and let her know that they were going to have some house-guests. Three, teenaged house-guests. He already had a headache. Seth was going to kill him- he was a senior and he was trying to study all the goddamn time. This was going to suck. She kept talking, rambling on about their guests and apologizing for landing this on his lap with so little notice. She didn't sound very sorry, in Jake's humble opinion. Will was staring up at him, watching as he clenched and unclenched his fists; the motion was somewhat soothing, but not nearly enough.

"I'll keep them for three weeks Diana, but no more than that. They'll go to school everyday that they're here and I'll work them to the bone, too, so there'll be no doubt that this was not a vacation- but I can't take in every stray fledge that you think needs to be taught a lesson. I just don't have the time." _Or the money._ How the hell were they going to feed three more teenagers for three weeks? His headache worsened, just thinking about it. He had a feeling that the jar of cash in the dresser at home was going to be seriously depleted. They'd been hoping to go away for a week- or even a weekend, maybe- to celebrate Leah's birthday in March. So much for that idea- unless they decided to go to _Montana_, there was suddenly no way that was going to happen. _Freakin' Crows._

Diana kept talking- Crows talk a lot- but Jake tuned her out. He'd see the kids for himself when they got here and no sooner. She either trusted him or she didn't- he really didn't need all the instructions. It wasn't that long ago that he'd _been_ a teenager- he could surely cope with three of them. He could, right? Right. Definitely. And if he couldn't, Leah could. She was naturally bitchy- she'd be better at, like, discipline and stuff anyway.

"Diana, I've got this. Stop worrying." She stopped talking mid-sentence but he could practically hear the disapproval through the line. "Was there anything else? I've got a stack of paperwork here to get through and apparently I have some house-guests to prepare for." He'd have to call the school, too, and give them a heads-up about their exchange students. Grinning wickedly, he thought of just shoving all of them into Seth's classes for their time in La Push- Seth was taking all the AP classes that the reservation school had on offer. That would have been punishment enough for him when he was sixteen- maybe it'd work for these, too. And, if all else failed, he'd make the trek out the Cullen manor and ask Esme to take them for a week or two. With all the kids gone, traveling the world or whatever it was the Cullens did, he was sure that Esme could use another mouth or two to feed.

His grin was real, that time, and he hung upon on Diana before she could make his headache worse. He winked at Will and turned back to his paperwork.

If they got out of hand, he'd sic Esme on them and be done with it.

The rest of the afternoon was peaceful and he worked on, uninterrupted. The Principal at the reservation school wasn't thrilled to be taking in three random students, but she agreed to do it because he asked nicely. He didn't even have to remind her that he'd done her a favour the week previous, thankfully. Leah hadn't been thrilled either, but she'd accepted it- what choice did she really have, anyway? They'd be there that evening and they needed to stay somewhere- and where was safer than under the thumb of the Pack Alphas?

Toward four o'clock, Will began to get restless and Jake saw it as his sign to pack up and head home. The rain was still coming down heavily- no surprise there- outside and they got soaked running from the centre to the car, despite Jake's speed. Will, of course, though the rain was there personally to entertain him, so he was thrilled. He wouldn't be so thrilled when he got home to hear his mother reaming his uncle a new one for letting him get rained on, get sick and permanently stunt his growth _and_ his mental development.

Jake could live with that, as long as he was nowhere nearby when Will shared his new favourite word with his Momma. He'd been in Rachel's head- she was a scary, scary woman and motherhood had not mellowed her the way he'd hoped it would. They were unfortunate, both of them, that Rachel was home from work early. Jake stood outside the door, listening to the argument raging inside, and shared a glance with his nephew.

"Do we have to go in?" The little boy nodded solemnly, though Jake was pretty sure he hadn't understood the question.

"Shit."

"You said it, buddy." He knew he shouldn't encourage the child but… hell, Rachel could only kill him once and she seemed to be already trying her best with Becca so maybe he'd escape for one more day.

There was a very real reason that the twins should not live together. Ever. They were loud and opinionated; stubborn as hell and completely unwilling to back down from a challenge. It made them wonderful allies but Christ on a cracker, leaving them in the same room for longer than twenty minutes was just asking for trouble. They hadn't noticed this during Becca's last extended visit, but that was because their Dad had died- there were other things to think about, then, not to mention all that Vampire crap and then the revelation that little William was on his way into the world. Too many distractions for anyone to take notice of the fact that Rachel and Rebecca Black should not, under any circumstances, be living together again.

Of course, the only solution Rachel could think of was for Becks to move into the Clearwater's with Jake, Leah and Seth. Suddenly, their new house-guests were looking better and better- he couldn't move Becks in while the room was occupied could he? And with the bright-side to the whole disaster finally found, his spirits lifted and Jake sauntered into the house with a grin.

"Evening, family. I've been hard at work all afternoon- which of you wants to feed me?" Of course, the solution to Rachel and Becca ripping each other to pieces was to have them focus on him. It had always worked when they were kids. "Don't fight about it- I'm happy to let you both do it if you really want to." His words worked, sort of, easing the tension around Rachel's eyes even as he handed over her- slightly damp- son. "We got caught in the rain, Rach. You want me to change him?" Of course she said no and dashed for the baby's room as a way to escape the remains of their fight. Becca glared after her sister and threw herself onto the couch in a fit of temper more suited to a toddler Will's age than to a grown woman. Jake dropped in next to her and slung one arm over her shoulder. "What were you two shouting about this time?"

The evening before, the topic had been who should do the washing up. The night before that? They'd been fighting about what responsibility the United States had to the developing world.

"She thinks I should give Ben another chance." So did he. "But I don't. We're done; there's nothing left to say and there's nothing left to do. I've mailed the divorce papers and I've told him that if he keeps calling me that I'll have him arrested for harassment."

"I bet he didn't like that." Who would? To his amazement, Becca frowned.

"He laughed, actually. Asshole." Huh. Apparently, she wasn't getting his sense of humour in the divorce.

"So… tell me again why you've left him?" She'd just shown up, bags in hand, and announced that she'd had enough. Maybe if she'd talk to him he could convince her to go _back_ to Hawaii and let them get back to their routine. She made a face; reminiscent of Will when Paul tried to make the boy eat his peas. Jake just barely held back the laugh that threatened.

"I, uh… I thought I was pregnant." Say what now? "And I freaked out, completely."

"Are you?" They could not, under any circumstances, afford another baby around the place. She shook her head slowly.

"No, I'm not. I never was. But… it just made me realize that, if I had been pregnant, that'd I'd want to come home. I didn't even know that's what I wanted, you know?" No, he did not. "But there I was, sitting and staring at that stupid little stick and wondering if there would be space for me here until I found my own place." She sounded tired, suddenly, and he could see it in her face and felt a surge of guilt. "Ben didn't understand- he kept asking me why it mattered because I'm _not_ pregnant and all I could say was that just because I wasn't pregnant yet didn't mean that I'd never be and… Gah! It makes no sense when I say it out loud, but I just wanted to be here." She let her head fall into her hands and he hugged her tighter, just for a second.

"You'd rather be fighting with Rachel than drinking Martinis on the beach, huh?" He wasn't even sure what a Martini was. Could you get them on the beach? Leah would know. He'd ask her later. If he remembered to care.

Becca just shrugged.

"Seems that way, doesn't it?" There was a note of amusement in her voice, though, and that was better than the defeat he'd sensed earlier. Less chance of her bursting into tears, if nothing else. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, listening to Rachel asking Will questions about his day and if he'd had fun with his uncle Jake.

The house was quiet and the little voice travelled well.

"Shit". Becca lurched forward when Jake stood, his wary gaze on the hallway.

"Gotta go Becks- she's going to kill me."

He was just sliding back into the driver's seat of the rabbit when he heard Rachel's voice shouting his name. Later, he'd definitely claim that he couldn't hear her over the rain.

* * *

A/N: I know, I know. Not much by the way of plot in here. But we've moved forward almost two years from the end of Sunshine and *I* needed to check in with everyone and find out where they were, how they were doing. :) And we have to start somewhere, right?

Welcome back, anyway, and I hope y'all enjoyed it. I'll go crack on with the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Let us all recoil with shock.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has come back for the sequel- and welcome to any newcomers. Your support is much appreciated and I hope you enjoy this one! :)

Note: I don't like OCs, as a rule, so they won't be playing a massive role from here on out, but they _do_ serve a purpose, so if they're annoying you, they're going to be background at best, I swear.

* * *

Night had already fallen when Daniel drove up to the house and Jake realized he should have paid more attention when Diana had been talking. There were three teenagers alright- but why, exactly, had he convinced himself that they were all boys? Leah would smack him if he admitted it but somehow, he still thought of the shape shifters as predominately male- despite many, many hours of listening to Diana and Marianne lecture him on whatever their topic-of-the-month happened to be. As a result, the tiny girl in the backseat of Daniel's car was a surprise, but he was careful not to let it show on his face- no way, no how would Leah _ever_ find out. She'd have to sleep on the couch in the living room- there was nowhere else. He certainly wasn't going to bunk with Seth so the girl could sleep in with Leah. No way. But… the boys had a tendency to wander into the house half-dressed (or not dressed at all) and she was _tiny_- out of the car, she wasn't even up to Daniel's shoulder and Daniel was short. Well, normal height for a normal person, but tiny for a shape-shifter. So maybe the kid was regular-kid sized, but she certainly wasn't regular-shifter sized. Maybe he could pawn her off on Becca? That'd be punishment, right?

The three teenagers didn't say a word, just followed Daniel as meekly as ducklings, up the path to the porch where Jacob waited. The rain had lessened to a light drizzle so Jake felt no guilt in leaving them standing in it. This was La Push- they'd have to get used to getting rained on all the time.

"Daniel- good to see you again. Come on in." He stepped back into the house, projecting calm but inwardly freaking-the-fuck-out. The Crows followed him, Daniel commenting quietly that it was good to see Jake too and asking if he'd grown even taller since his last visit.

Jake had, but he didn't admit to it. He was only twenty, yet- Leah was pretty sure he'd top another inch before the end of the year. Seeing as he already had trouble finding clothes to fit him, he really hoped she was wrong. There's only so tall a guy can be before joining a freak show. Or the NBA.

He led the foursome inside, directing them to drop their bags inside the door, and motioning for the teenagers to take a seat in the living room. They sat stiffly, perched on the edge of the sofa. He couldn't help but wonder if the Pack lounged the way they did because they were wolves on the inside, same as these kids were Crow.

"You staying tonight, Dan?" Sam's guest room was ready, if he wanted it.

"If you have the room then that'd be great. The drive between here and home was long and unpleasant." Fifteen hours driving with three teenagers in your car? Sounded like hell to Jake.

"Sam and Emily will be happy to take you in tonight. She kept dinner for you, too, I think. You remember how to get over there?" Daniel nodded once and glanced over to the seated teenagers. He could hear the dismissal in Jake's tone, though the other man almost certainly didn't realize he was doing it. "You can leave these here with me; I've spoken to Diana." He was proud of the lack of annoyance in his tone and Daniel grinned accordingly. He was well aware of just how irksome the wolf found his mother. He said his goodbyes and issued a final reminder to the kids to behave themselves for Mr. Black. _Mr. Black_. He was six years older than them, for fuck's sake. Leah was almost that much older than him. Well. Not really. But he did like to tease her for cradle snatching regardless.

"You kids tired?" As one, they nodded. "Hungry?" They nodded again. "Probably need a shower after being in the car all day, yeah?" Another nod. If any of his Pack had been there, they'd have been curled on the floor in a submissive position, knowing that something shit was coming- Jake was predictable like that; a cool mask of calm hiding what was bound to be a creative and unpleasant punishment for stupidity. "Too bad." He grinned, wolfish. "On your feet- my patrol is about to start and you three had better keep up. If you get lost, I'm not coming to find you." He stalked to the rear of the house and out the back door, stripping and phasing before they'd even left the couch.

They had to run to catch him up; jumping off the porch and into the skies in their Crow forms without question. They could listen, anyway- that was a definite plus.

Of course, it was late and dark and raining and they were Crows and not wolves- their night vision was poor, at best, and their stamina was not in-exhaustible.

The Pack was waiting for Jake when he phased and there was a warm current of amusement running through them at Crow's expense. Seth had been waiting for Jake to phase so he could go home.

_Seth? Would you mind giving up your room so this kid doesn't get traumatized by the half-naked weirdos who wander through our house at all hours?_ It might have _sounded_ like a request, but Seth heard the order echoing. Jake was his best friend, no question there, but sometimes it was really clear that he was the Alpha, too. Tim and Michael laughed at his expense and, a thousand miles away, Jared echoed the sentiment. He'd heard all about the little brats and he was the reason they'd been sent to La Push at all. Currently, Jake was feeling no love for Jared- but that thought only left Jared laughing harder, racing through the forests of the Crow reservation with his tongue lolling out like a common Labrador.

Jake ran the borders, drinking in the thoughts of the Pack. Embry joined them after a time- it was difficult for him to find outside space to phase, but he was able to join them at night, just before he fell asleep. More than once, he'd fallen asleep in wolf form and they'd all been treated to the oddity that was wolf-dreams. Running with the Pack was comfortable; safe. It was like coming home again at the end of a long day, or something equally poetic and girly. Whatever- it was nice. He just ran.

* * *

Leah was home late, not surprisingly. She'd been working at the store long enough now that she closed up most evenings, now. It didn't mean she got paid more, but it did mean she could bring home the leftover muffins. And if she hid some of them in the morning specifically so there would be leftovers… well. No-one had to know and the Pack benefited. The house was empty- not a surprise. That there was a pot of something bubbling on the cooker was surprising, but it smelled pretty damn good, too. Jake must have cooked before he went out- clearly taking their teenage prisoners with him, and likely on a patrol based on the shirt and jeans she could see on the back porch. Interestingly, one of the unfamiliar scents was a _girl_. Jake hadn't mentioned that. Or if he had, she'd been too busy stealing pastries to notice. She decided to just not comment on it and hope that he was assuming that she'd known all along because God forbid she admit to not knowing something. Like that would ever happen.

The pot on the cooker was some kind of pasta concoction that Jake was fond of- minced beef; sauce from a jar, pasta shapes and whatever else was in the fridge when he opened the door. Seriously. She'd come home from work once to find Jake and Seth making a casserole with a 'secret ingredient'. That ingredient had been oatmeal and raisin cookies. It had been… interesting. Secretly, she suspected that half of Jake's experiments were an attempt to get her to cook more. That might have been plausible, but it wasn't going to work. She wasn't his mother. She stashed her hard-earned muffins in the bread-box and glanced at the clock- just after eight. They should be home from patrol soon-ish and she'd have to head out, then. She ate quickly, barely even tasting her food and burning her mouth as she inhaled it- luckily, she healed quickly or she'd have killed off her taste buds years ago.

She checked the guest room- her old bedroom- and, to her slight amazement, Jake had actually changed the sheets on the twin beds. They kept the room for whichever of the boys needed somewhere to stay overnight- impromptu guests were not unexpected, most nights. She grabbed fresh linens and changed the sheets on Seth's bed quickly, resolving to kick her little brother out onto the couch and sacrifice his room to the teenage girl they'd been saddled with. There was a quick flash of resentment but she stomped it down- Diana had done a lot for them; they owed her. She repeated the mantra several times, even as she shifted luggage around the room and made up a bed on the sofa. Seth would hate it, she knew. Maybe he could stay with Rachel and Paul for a few days- there was a bed in Will's room. Hard to know if sharing with a one year old would be better or worse than sleeping on a sofa? Leah couldn't tell.

By the time Jake and Seth trudged back in the door at nine, Leah was antsy; ready to run. She only had the barest glance of the kids- the two boys looking sullen and tired but the girl was smirking, just a little. Leah watched the girl retreat, something in her smirk niggling at the recesses of her brain. She looked _almost_ familiar- and if Leah found out that this kid was related to Marianne and Daniel, she'd go apeshit. Those two were _the_ _most annoying_ people she'd ever met. She didn't need another one hanging around. Her brother showed the newcomers to the bathroom and their bedrooms before retreating to the master bath himself. Leah had been going to follow and introduce herself but found herself pulled back, one of Jake's strong arms wrapped around her middle. His chest was firm at her back and she closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. He smelled of salt and earth.

"Sorry about this, Lee." He kept his voice low, hoping the kids couldn't hear him. Their hearing was pretty sensitive, he knew, but he couldn't tell just how good it was. Better than the wolves, maybe, but not by much. He could hear them talking quietly in the spare room, but he couldn't make out the words so he hoped it went both ways. Leah shrugged, twisting a little in his arms and planting a kiss on his lips.

"S'okay. Not like having a houseful is anything new." No, it wasn't new- it was just _who_ the houseful was that was new. These kids weren't Pack- she couldn't smack them over the head and tell them to move or kick their feet off the furniture. Well, she could. But maybe she shouldn't. He grinned a little and twirled her 'round to face him.

"Have I told you lately how awesome you are?" He had, in fact, just the day before. But she shook her head, no.

"Tell me again?" Instead of saying it, he kissed her smirk, running the tip of his tongue over her lips even as her hands crept under his shirt, her nails scratching against his skin in a way that made him shiver.

They broke apart reluctantly, both breathing a little heavily, and Leah sighed and rested her forehead against his.

"I've gotta go patrol. I'll be home at midnight…" She let the suggestion trail off and watched the grin creep across his face.

"Wake me?" She nodded once and with a final soft press of lips, pushed herself away from him.

He watched from the door as she stripped on the porch, joking that if he caught either of the new boys so much as looking at her, he'd castrate them both. They didn't need to look behind them to hear the tactical retreat of teenaged feet. Clever boys. She dropped her clothing where she stood and phased, darting off into the woods and into the Pack mind. Jake watched until he couldn't see her anymore and then, finally, turned to his teenage prisoners.

"You guys hungry?" He asked, checking the pot- there was plenty of food, even for four teenage shape shifters and himself. They appeared almost instantly and for just a moment, he felt bad about having dragged them on patrol on their first night in La Push. All three were pale and looked exhausted and they were damp, too. He told them to sit and they practically collapsed at the table. He got their names as he handed out food- almost dropping the plates when he realized that the two boys were Diana's _nephews_ Sebastian and Henry. They were twins, though they didn't look much alike. The girl was Jo and she was the only child of Diana's second in command.

They hadn't sent _just anyone_ to stay in La Push- these three would be Flock leaders, someday. Jacob felt sick.

"So. Tell me what you did to get sent here." He fought to keep that sudden revelation out of his voice; nonchalant as if he'd known all along that he was entertaining the leaders of tomorrow. The boys shared a glance that he recognized from watching Seth and Leah communicate- secret messages encoded in raised eyebrows and facial twitches that marked the two as siblings the way their scent should have. The feather-y scent could be distracting.

"We disrupted a Council meeting by crashing through the skylight." Jo offered, suppressing a smile that told Jake that the action had not been unintentional.

"Why?" He should have offered to take Leah's patrol- she'd have been better at this shit. The three of them tried to hide their tiny smiles.

"It was an accident! We were practicing in the air and Seb started a fight and you'd be surprised at how difficult it is to control a free-fall. We're _Crows_, not hawks." She said _Hawk_ as if it was a dirty word- the same way Jared spat _Dog_, in fact. All the same, she was lying. But did he care enough to question her on it? No. No, he did not. The invaders could keep their stupid secrets- as long as they were still alive when Daniel came back for them, Jake would be happy.

"Do I need to warn you that accidents like that won't be tolerated here?" Jesus, he sounded like his dad. Worse- he sounded like Leah's dad. Harry Clearwater had always been a badass. They shook their heads in unison and Jake would have almost believed they were triplets, at that moment. It was weird. "Good. Leah and I are in charge around here but if any of my boys tell you to do something, you assume that the order has come from me, got it?" He'd been very careful to specify to the boys that orders did not include anything stupid; dangerous or for any action which would land them in a bucket of trouble later. If he'd aimed those thoughts at Colin and Brady in particular, he wasn't showing bias- he was learning from years of experience. "If you have trouble with one of them, you come straight to me or Leah. And don't start fights you can't win." Jake, who'd been inhaling his food even as he spoke, pushed away from the table with a sigh and stood up. "When you're finished here, you shower and sleep. While you're here, you're on Seth's schedule- that means sleeping early and up at five for a two-hour run before coming back here for breakfast and then heading to school. Homework gets done here before patrol again in the evening. If you have questions, ask Seth. I'm in work for six but I'll be here in the morning. Any questions?" Three heads shaking indicated no. "Good."

Normally on a Monday evening, Seth and Jake settled in for some quality bonding time with Call of Duty- it was the only evening in the week where their schedules overlapped for longer than an hour. Tonight, though… Jake was exhausted. He collapsed onto his bed, listening carefully to the Crow teenagers as they fought over the other bathroom. Seth finished up in the second shower a minute or two after Jake had face-planted on the bed. The boy laughed when he saw him, boneless on the bed.

"You dying already, Jake?" His Alpha just grunted and Seth took it as a yes. "I'll see you in the morning. Try and get some sleep in before Leah comes home?" Seth may not have been happy with the fact, but he was used to it by now- Jake and Leah were not quiet; never had been quiet. He had no expectations that they would ever be quiet. Jake just laughed but the sound was muffled by a pillow so Seth decided to pretend he hadn't heard it. If he admitted to hearing it, he'd be starting another bitch-fight and he had yet to win one of those. Jake wasn't the Alpha for nothing- he was bigger, faster and stronger _and_ he fought dirty.

The boy retreated to the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. He hated sleeping on the sofa, but he couldn't begrudge the girl his bedroom. When he'd been fourteen, he'd woken up more than once to find his sister half-naked in front of him and that had been disturbing enough. The idea of waking up with very large, strange naked _men_ watching him sleep was just wrong on so many levels. He was one of them and he wouldn't like it. And it was likely to happen, too, if the kid wasn't sequestered somewhere safe- the house was already a half-way home for the rest of the Pack and it had been since Leah had become Alpha female. It got worse when Will was born and Paul kicked them all out of the Black house because they kept waking the baby (by staring at him in amazement, amongst other things.). Seth didn't begrudge his mother her escape to Forks, either. She wasn't Pack- mother to part of it, yeah, but not Pack- and she wasn't Quileute, either. With his dad dead and Leah ready and willing to take his place on the council, Sue could move on with her life. She'd asked him to come with her in the move and he'd considered it pretty seriously.

And then he'd come home from school one afternoon to find Leah lying in the middle of the floor in the living room, staring at the ceiling. She hadn't even glanced at him, just pointed to the kitchen and grunted that "There's food in there if you want it, runt" and then she'd proceeded to ask him why he thought it was that people didn't paint ceilings interesting colours and shit and Seth had known he couldn't leave. She wasn't his mother, far from it. But he wasn't the same kid he'd been when he'd phased first and Leah was doing her best to find some semblance of normal in the middle of all the Pack chaos- how could he do any different? She'd stuck with him when he moved to Jake's Pack, way back when- how could he even consider leaving her now?

He was trying to ignore the footsteps approaching the couch and fade into sleep instead, but the owner of said footsteps finally spoke up.

"You're Seth, right?" He nodded, eyes closed. Whatever they wanted could surely wait till morning.

"I'm Seb. Your, uh, Alpha told us to come to you if we had any questions?" He'd changed his mind- he was moving out in the morning. _And_ Jake was a douche.

"What is it, kid?" He didn't know what age the boy was, but anyone who was trying to keep him awake was going to be called _kid_ until future notice. Plus, what the hell kind of pussy name was Sebastian? Had his parents taken one look at him and thought 'Yeah, this'll be the one we don't like. Let's fuck him up.'

"Your Alpha said-"

"His name is Jake." God, if they went around referring to him as _Alpha_ all the time, Jake might expect them to call him _sir._ Hah.

"Uh, okay. Mr. Jake said that we're to follow your schedule tomorrow but none of us have an alarm. Will you make sure we wake up in the morning? Please?" _Mr. Jake?_ That had to be worse than _sir_. He almost couldn't wait to tell the others. Mr. Jake himself was already snoring the sleep of the terminally-exhausted, so it wasn't worth wasting right then.

"Sure kid. I'll wake y'all." He peered up at the boy. "But I don't think you'll have any issues." The five am alarm call wasn't just for this house. Seb looked confused but Seth didn't bother to say any more. He really, truly, didn't care. "Go to sleep kid. If you thought patrol this evening was long and tiring, you have no idea what you're in for."

That was true. But then, if the kid thought the next day was any great challenge, they'd really be in trouble at the weekend. The footsteps retreated, followed by the soft murmur of whispered conversation- but the conversation didn't last long. The light in the kitchen burned on into the night, but the inhabitants were all asleep before ten o'clock.

* * *

Leah's patrol was uneventful. Sometimes, there were hunters in the woods, or hikers, and very occasionally there was Vampire scent… but excitement was rare. It had been months since they'd seen sight or scent of a Vamp. They'd talked about cutting back on the patrols, especially with Jared and Embry away from the Rez but whatever reasons they had for cutting back always seemed to pale in the face of the memory of what had happened the last time their guard was down. Of course with the Cullens more or less gone Vampire interest in the area was bound to drop but… that knowledge wasn't enough to let them slack off. Not really. Not yet, anyway. She handed off to Paul at midnight and retreated back to her house, using the shadows to hide the gleam from her grey fur. She phased back to human on the back porch and pulled on her underwear and the tee she had discarded earlier. Seth was sleeping soundly on the couch and the three strangers seemed to be sleeping too. Jake, like always, woke the second she opened the outside door. He appeared in the kitchen doorway moments later, hair tousled and eyes bleary but wearing a grin. He was always happy to see her- and she him, she had to admit. That little fission of energy she felt every time she saw him had only grown stronger over time. He watched her eat without saying a word, just sitting on the counter-top with his eyes trained on her.

She only spoke to tell him that there was nothing to tell from the patrol. He'd only nodded in reply and she appreciated the silence- there was so much talking during the day; so many thoughts when she ran with the Pack that the silence was a welcome relief.

She left her dirty dishes in the sink before turning to him where he sat, propped up on the counter-top. He was so tall that even seated, his feet were almost touching the floor. She stepped between his legs and tugged on the wife-beater tee with one hand. He didn't normally wear shirts to sleep in- they got too hot. Hell, he never normally wore any clothes to bed. He pulled her close to him, sliding down her body into standing and pressed his mouth to the scar on her neck. It was faded now but every touch sent tingles up her spine and he knew it.

"Impressionable minds- No walking around naked." He muttered the words into her skin and she smiled in response, tugging the shirt over his head with one hand.

"Don't care." Her words were almost a growl, but quiet. "It's bed-time. The rule for bed-time is that you're naked." She could almost feel him roll his eyes from where his lips were attached to her neck. He hated it when she threw his rules back at him- and that had been one of the first they'd made when he moved in.

Seth hated that rule. Seth hated that he knew the rule existed. And thoughts of Seth were enough to make Jake spin and drag her back to their bedroom. His friend had seen (and heard) enough already- he didn't need to wake up in the morning to find out that Jake had pounded his sister on the kitchen floor. Of course, he also didn't need to know that it had happened more than once before, either.

Leah closed the door carefully after them and threw Jake's shirt onto the pile of laundry by the foot of the bed. He returned the favour, peeling her tight tee shirt off with a hum of appreciation.

The days belonged to the Pack; to words and talking and making sure that everyone else was okay. At night, things were different. At night, they belonged to one another and everyone else faded away. They were Jake and Lee- not the Alphas of a Pack of shape shifters; not responsible for the financial woes of two households or the continued happiness of the entire reservation. At night, when they were alone, Jake was just _Jake_- her mate, her boyfriend, whatever. And she was just another girl.

* * *

Morning came too quickly, as usual. When she woke, Jake had left already gone to the garage early so he could leave early that afternoon and be back at the house in time to take Will from Paul before Paul left to man the radio at the ranger's station on a twelve hour overnight shift. She stumbled out of her bed and pulled on whatever clothes were closest to hand- a clean pair of Jake's boxers and the wife-beater tee she'd pulled off him the night before. She'd gotten better at ripping them off him without actually doing any damage- well, they do say that practice makes perfect, and she had certainly practiced. She didn't even look in the mirror- just ran her fingers through her hair twice and sauntered out into the living room. The Pack had seen her at her worst and while she might not be particularly clean, she certainly wasn't looking her worst. She'd forgotten about the three kids until she walked into the kitchen and found them sitting at the table, silent and nervous. What the hell were they nervous about?

"Have you guys eaten?" There was plenty of time for breakfast, yet. Still half-asleep, Leah started throwing ingredients into the pan and bread into the toaster. She was making enough to feed an army- or, at least, enough to feed herself and Seth and any of the rest of the Pack that might show up before seven am. Her money was on Tim and Mike, that morning. Tim had been on the early patrol with Seth and Michael had in-built radar for food that was almost as impressive as Jake's.

When Seth emerged from the shower, smelling like _her_ body wash so she knew they must be out of the other, breakfast was just landing on the table. She didn't serve the three kids, but she made sure they knew they should help themselves. If they didn't learn that gem quickly, they'd starve by the end of their first week.

"You need any money?" She was clearly talking to Seth. He shook his head; no. Seth earned his own cash- he tutored the dumbasses in Forks High- but he never had very much and he ate a _lot_. She didn't ask the other three. "Lunch is provided by the school. It's generally disgusting, but it's what you're getting." They just nodded, meekly. All three of them looked exhausted, already. "Did you guys sleep well?"

"Yes ma'am." The taller of the two boys answered- she thought his name was Henry, maybe.

"Don't call me Ma'am. My name is Leah. Patrol?" That question was aimed at Seth, but he just shrugged and said that they'd kept up.

"Good." They finished the meal in silence, clearing their own plates and then the three newcomers lingered in the living room, anxious. "Go easy on them, okay? They're just kids." Seth raised an eyebrow at her uncharacteristic sympathy and she shrugged in response. "They're the same age you were when we faced the newborns and _you_ shouldn't have had to be there." Explanation enough, in her view. "The keys to the Rabbit are on the dresser- take it to school because those three might collapse from exhaustion if you make them walk it." Seth normally walked. The school was two miles from their house, through the forest. It was almost three if you took the road. He was nodding and agreeing when the front door opened and Mike stumbled in, tripping over his own feet. Tim followed, laughing. They stopped dead, staring at the three newcomers.

"Oohh… Fresh meat." Tim's grin was wolfish- not threatening to anyone who knew him, but scary enough to someone who had only heard stories about how vicious the La Push wolves could be when required. The stink of fear permeated the room, suddenly, and Tim was immediately abashed. "Kidding! Jeez. Can't a guy play upon someone's fear these days without getting the stink eye?" It was Leah sending the glare of death, so his repentance was understandable.

"Timmy, Michael, this is Sebastian, Henry and Jo, our… exchange students." Mike laughed and made his way into the kitchen, locating the two plates of breakfast food that Leah had set aside.

"The Crows got the crappy end of that deal- they've had to put up with Jared for _months_ and we've needed more bodies for baseball. Daniel was always pretty fast- is that genetic?"

Leah felt some of the tension leave her shoulders as her boys engaged the kids in sports-talk and she could tune them out. The boys ate quickly, waiting for Seth to get his things together, and then the group left- Tim and Mike betting that they'd make it to the school before the Rabbit. Seth, for all his confidence in Jake's mechanical ability, refused the bet. He just how quickly they could make the school run if they had to, and the Rabbit wasn't built to survive the same leaps and jumps that the boys could manage over rough terrain. She watched them leave through the window before collapsing onto the sofa. She wasn't working, she was already on top of her college work and the house was relatively clean. What was a girl to do? Normally, her days off were filled before she could blink but this one had slipped under the radar, somehow, and left her with time to spare. Hmm… sleep sounded good. She didn't get enough of that, most days. She wandered back to her bedroom and threw herself onto the bed with a satisfied sigh. The boys were in school, she didn't have to patrol 'till noon and there was nothing to do but lay back and sleep. There was _nothing_ wrong with this picture.

Twenty minutes later, the phone rang and broke her out of her newly achieved slumber. It was Seth and he was _panicking_. Well, as close as Seth ever came to panicking- but there was definitely some breathlessness and some shouting.

Tony had just imprinted on Jo. Tony, who was barely sixteen, and who Leah was willing to bet had never kissed a girl before.

Sebastian and Henry were not taking it well- apparently they'd both been carrying a torch for the Crow girl. There had been a small fight; just a little one, with no bones broken and only one bloody nose but a fight nonetheless and Tony's mom had been called. Leah, as the responsible adult in charge of the exchange students, was requested to attend the principal's office at her earliest convenience. I.e. _now_.

Some days, being a werewolf _sucked donkey parts._

She was dialling Diana's cell when the nastiest of thoughts struck her. Jo was an only child- Jake had said as much.

Crow shifters were born in pairs- Marianne had told her that. They were _always_ twins; it's how the Crows knew who was going to turn.

Now maybe that was a coincidence; maybe Jo _had_ been a twin, once. Or maybe, just maybe, Jo was half Crow and half something _else_. Half someone else. Half someone specific? A half-memory of the girl floated through her mind and Leah growled.

There was a nasty look on her face when she pressed the call button and by the time Diana answered the call, the shifter's anger had risen to a nice, healthy boil.

"At what point, exactly, were you going to tell me that Jo is Joshua Uley's bastard daughter? Was it going to be _after_ one of my boys imprinted on her or was sending her here a test because you weren't sure?"

For once, Diana West was speechless. Leah's triumph at being the one to do it was bittersweet.

* * *

A/N: Um. Yeah. Ta daa!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight, etc.

A/N: Massive thank yous to everyone for reading and reviewing- feedback is always appreciated. I hope y'all enjoy this one. I'm not completely happy with it, but if I don't post it now, I'll sit on it for a month, just thinking about it. :D

* * *

Becca was already awake when the pounding on the front door started- she was awake and standing in the kitchen wearing just a towel, trying to find Rachel's hairdryer and failing miserably. Her hair hung damp on her shoulders and she was scowling deeply when she opened the door. Whatever she'd been expecting? Leah, face like a thundercloud, and a strange teenage girl in her grasp (literally- Leah was holding her by the shoulder) was not it.

"Lee?" She didn't even get the question out before Leah pushed past her and into the house.

"Becks this is Jo. Jo, this is Becca Black- our Alpha's sister _and_ sister in law to my third. You are staying with her today and if you so much as _sneeze_ without her approval, I'm going to kick your ass so hard your grandchildren will feel it." She shoved the girl onto the couch and then turned her glare on Becca. "Make yourself useful and get dressed, Becks. This kid is your problem for today. _I _have to sort out the mother of all fist-fights before Jake finds out." Jake would not be pleased.

"What the hell, Leah? You can't just show up here and dump some kid on me with no explanation." She wasn't even angry, just confused. Leah's glare intensified and the second Black sister took a step backwards. Just one, and only a little one, but she definitely stepped backward.

"I can and I have. Now get dressed and if I'm feeling generous, I'll give you the five cent story."

Becca, deciding that she needed to learn to pick her battles, retreated to her room to put some clothes on. Alone with the teenaged-hell-spawn-also-known-as-Uley-number-three Leah felt her ire wilt, a little. It wasn't the girl's fault that her Flock leader was a complete bitch. Huh. Her Pack leader was a bitch too. Sucked to be Jo.

"Listen, kid…" She didn't even have words to finish the sentence with, but Jo interrupted, hands raised in surrender.

"I know, I know. Stay here, be quiet and don't let any boys into the house." She'd been quite soundly lectured on the way over from the school.

"None of this is any of your fault, okay? I know that. I'm just…"

"Pissed?" Why did the girl have to show the Uley backbone when Leah was trying to be nice to her? It just pissed her off. A lot.

"Yeah, I'm pissed. This was a shitty way for you to find out that you have a shitty dad. And I'm not thrilled about Tony imprinting, either." She wasn't sure which she was more annoyed by, actually. They'd been hoping that the last of the imprint drama was over- all the suitable Quileute women had been successfully trapped already. Except Becca, but Leah was half-convinced that the spirits wanted _rid_ of Becca. They'd tried their damnedest, after all- got her as far away as Hawaii too before the girl grew a conscience. It had taken so long that Leah had been convinced it never would but, lo and behold, the younger Black twin was back and refused to leave.

"Imprinting… that's what Jared and Kim have, right?" That's right- this was all _Jared's_ fault. Leah felt her anger re-direct and aim at her absent Pack brother. She just nodded, knowing that if she spoke the words would spill out in an angry rush and then the kid would think she was crazy as well as scary. And the child definitely thought she was scary- the stench of fear in the car on the way over was almost overwhelming.

Becca sauntered back into the room, faking nonchalance. It was a show of bravado that only the Black siblings pulled off with any confidence: fake it 'till you make it had been their motto growing up and while it had gotten Leah in trouble more than once as a child, she couldn't help but feel better when she saw Becks pulling it off, now.

"This is Jo- she's from the Crow nation. This morning, at school, Tony imprinted on her. That means she has Quileute blood in her somewhere, and I'm about ninety percent certain that she's Sam's sister."

Becca took it in stride, just nodding and aiming a half-grin at the frightened child.

"And I just need to keep an eye on her? Anything else?" Leah glared pointedly at Jo and the girl recited her conditions of imprisonment once again.

"I don't care what you have to do, Becks, but keep those boys out of this house. _All_ of them. Except Paul and Jake, obviously." It wasn't even really the younger boys she was concerned about- it was Sam. Sam was twenty-four; Jo was fourteen. Sam's father had left when he was nine years old and no-one had heard from him since. Sam had hoped that the man had fallen off a cliff edge somewhere- one of his deepest, darkest secrets was that he hoped his father was dead. Leah had known that for years and she knew that Jared knew it, too- he would never have let Diana send the girl to La Push without warning if he'd known. He'd better not have known- she'd kick his ass if he did. And Embry… Embry was away at college and they didn't even know _for sure_ that he was Sam's brother but this was going to hit him hard, too. Its one thing to convince yourself that maybe your mom had been special to your deadbeat dad- its something else entirely to realize that you're just one in a string of kids he'd fathered and abandoned.

It was pretty shit, either way. Leah may not have her dad anymore but she'd never had to wonder if he'd loved her- of course he had.

"No problem. Jo and I will stay here, chat; get to know one another." There was something deceptive about Becca's new-found calm and Leah was pretty certain that she was going to hear all about it later. Repeatedly. And loudly. And possibly whilst being forced to paint toenails and talk about _feelings_. Of course, Leah's get-out-of-awkward-girl-talk card was always how good Jake was in the sack- that shut both of the Black girls up pretty damn quickly.

"Good; great. Thank you." She even smiled, a tiny grateful smile, before dashing back out the door to the car and back to the school before Henry and Seb decided that picking a fight (again) with Tony was the smart thing to do. The Crows were faster, sure, but they were smaller, not as strong and, oh yeah, outnumbered two to one. Well, two to one if Seth decided to step in- he'd let them fight once already.

She was back at the school in what had to be record time. Or maybe she just zoned out completely on the return trip, because it didn't feel like it took any length of time at all. The Principal had stowed the five boys in an empty classroom, waiting for Leah to return and sort them out. How the woman justified that to herself, Leah couldn't begin to guess. It wasn't as if she advertised that she was den mother to adolescent wolves- there was no reason for the woman to cede to her instead of, oh, Tony's _actual_ mother. Anita had been summoned and had washed her hands of the problem the moment she saw who was involved; happily making the issue Leah's problem with a smile and a wave. It was something that Sue Clearwater would have done- allocating the problem to where the problem belonged and waiting at home to dole out further punishment in private. Of course, Tony hadn't actually done anything wrong- he'd imprinted; there was nothing he could have done to prevent it and the blame for the fight lay solely with the two Crow boys. Well, the blame for starting it lay with the Crows.

The two groups were standing on opposite sides of the classroom, staring daggers at one another across the room. There must have been some additional scuffling while she was gone, because Mike bore a new bruise on his cheek. The two Crow boys appeared uninjured though- so either her boys had shown some restraint or the Crows were harder to damage than she had thought. Maybe not strong, but durable- that must have been the case, because she was pretty sure her boys weren't capable of restraint. She loved them, yes, but she wasn't blind to their many, many faults.

She slammed the door closed behind her, effectively grabbing everyone's attention without saying a word, and stalked to the top of the room. It was a struggle to control her temper but she managed, somehow. It helped that they all looked pretty abashed. If even one of them had tried to smirk at her and make stupid jokes, she'd have exploded. Not phased, no, just… strangled someone, maybe.

"Who wants to start?"

No-one said anything. Hell, they didn't even move. The wolves had their attention focused solely on the floor and the Crow boys were staring at a spot on the wall.

"Okay, I'll start." She took a seat in what she supposed was the teacher's seat, behind the desk at the top of the classroom, leaned back and propped her feet on the table. Her _bare_ feet, she noticed. Huh. She could have sworn she'd put shoes on before she left the house but clearly not. And, now that she was noticing, she really could use an evening of pedicures and pampering, so maybe playing nice with Becca wouldn't be complete torture and… oh yeah, she had a handful of hormonal adolescents to verbally spank. "Tony, you've imprinted. Some would say that there are congratulations in order but I think you know how I feel about imprinting." Even now, after everything, she still hated the very idea of it. She loved all the imprintees, but it was just… archaic or something. Besides, someone had to remain on the fence about it- most of the others would be thrilled for him. "Henry, Sebastian, the reason that Tony imprinted on Jo is because her father was, very likely, a Quileute man. Diana knew this and sent her here to test the theory." They both paled, but she couldn't tell if it was shock or anger. Her own boys just accepted it- they didn't know enough of the Crow leader to know if this was unusual or unexpected behaviour. Reprehensible, perhaps, but she wasn't _their_ leader so they didn't much care. Leah knew the feeling. But then, if she'd had to? She could, and would, make the same decision as Diana had. She'd been hurt enough by imprinting to try and prevent that pain for anyone else.

"Would it have been better for this to happen years from now? Say one of you was her boyfriend and you loved each other very much and then one day Tony saw her on the train; or he went up to school in Billings and bam! Instant soul-mates and broken hearts all round. Would that have been easier?"

"At least she'd have had a chance! This is just _wrong_! It's sick and gross and completely unfair!" Henry shouted the last words and they echoed in the near-empty classroom. Sebastian was nodding; agreeing.

"It's no different from the Alpha bond your own leaders have." They didn't know how to argue that. "I know you're angry and I know you're hurting but trust me- it's better to have this out in the open now, okay?" She found some sympathy somewhere and injected it into her tone. She was pretty sure they wouldn't just take her word for it but there was nothing else she could do for them- her attention shifted to her own Pack. "You three- I'm disappointed. I know why you did what you did and I understand, even. But I want you to know that I am disappointed." That'd hit them harder, she knew, that any angry outburst. "Someone could have been really hurt here, guys- this school is full of kids and teachers who could have been hurt. If Seth hadn't pulled you off each other, what would have happened, huh?"

She watched them wilt further- if they had been in wolf form, they'd have been on their backs with bellies and neck exposed to her. "Get back to class- come see me after school. And I expect every one of you to apologize to the Principal for fighting and take whatever punishment she gives you." They trooped out, one after the other, tails between their legs. The two Crow boys seemed to enjoy that display- their eyes were brighter and she could smell some sense of victory steaming from them.

"You two are coming with me." Her tone was stone-hard. "You come into my home, start a fight with _my_ boys and then stand there like that's nothing? Stand there and stare at me like you think I'll let you get away with it because you're young and because your aunt is leader of your Tribe?" She moved faster than even they'd be able to see, appearing in front of them suddenly, teeth bared in a wolfish snarl. "I don't give a flying fuck who your aunt is or who you think you are. If you start shit like that again on my Rez, I'll put you down myself. Do we have an understanding?"

They didn't meet her eyes, muttering a quiet 'Yes ma'am' in unison. She watched them, wary. Whatever meekness they'd shown the previous evening, and earlier that morning even, had to be at least partially an act- if they were truly as deferential and timid as they'd been acting, then there was no way they'd have ever picked a fight with her three. So they were either so used to lying that it came naturally, or they thought meekness was what she wanted so that was what they offered. Either way, it was going to end now.

"Follow me." She stopped at the office to leave the car keys for Seth to collect and to apologize, again, to the Principal and tell her that she was taking the exchange students home for the day. She promised that they would be back on Monday, ready to learn. The both saw her wide smile and were smart enough to know that it meant nothing good. They were in for a long, painful weekend if she had anything to say about it.

* * *

Jake heard nothing about anything until he finished work and headed to Rachel's to watch the baby 'till evening. Paul had spent the day with Will at his mother's house, giving the boy's only grandparent the chance to dote on him for an afternoon.

Leah was waiting for him, sitting on the porch steps with her knees curled up to her chest and a pained expression on her face. He couldn't remember ever seeing it before.

She explained quickly; emotionless. But the situation was close enough to what had happened to her- and involving another Uley, for fucks sake- that he knew she must have been affected. She didn't untangle herself from her position, either, so he just sat next to her and threw one arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

"Have you spoken to Sam?" The '_and_ _Embry'_ was unsaid and unnecessary.

"Yeah. He's… not surprised, I think. He wants to meet her." Of course he did. They were damn lucky this hadn't happened two years before or the man might've ripped the kid to pieces- Sam had father issues. Pretty severe father issues and they all knew it. There's nothing quite like carrying the name of a man you hate with every fibre of your being; that anger… that ran deep in Sam and it was nothing that the rest of them could empathize with. Embry could have, maybe, if Sam had let him… but those two had never wanted to know. Or at least, they'd never admitted to wanting to know. This might change things.

"You spoke to everyone after the fight?" The very thought of that sent his pulse racing- what if someone had gotten hurt? They were so much stronger than everyone else… he thought they'd known that; understood what it meant to hide that fact from the rest of the school. Hell, from the rest of the world. She rested her head on his shoulder and nodded, rubbing her head onto his skin in a purely-lupine gesture. She unfolded slowly, wrapping one arm around his back and pressing her leg against his, soaking in his warmth.

"How long are they on scut for?" She grinned into his shirt; he knew her pretty well.

"Indefinitely. The Crow boys are out there now, trailing Sam and Quil. I think you need to talk to them all, too. They're pretty upset." Tony was freaking out- he'd never even thought about imprinting, not really. He needed someone to tell him it would be okay and it'd all work out. That had to be Jake- it had to be. Leah couldn't do it. The two Crow boys had spent part of the afternoon with Quil and Claire- she wasn't sure if that had helped or not but it lessened some of their fear that their friend was going to be a child bride. Quil loved Claire- no doubt there- but he definitely didn't think of her _that_ way, and he hadn't become a monk because he'd imprinted. Quil, for all his dedication to the five year old, was quite the manwhore. Leah and Jake both thought it was healthy, though some of the other guys with imprints did wonder, from time to time, what it would mean in the long term. Leah had decided a long time ago that she'd only worry about it if Quil fell in love. Or worse: knocked someone up.

"The kid is inside?" She just nodded again. "Is Will in there too?" A tiny part of Jake hoped that Paul hadn't arrived back yet- if Will wasn't inside, then he wouldn't have to go in and deal with it. He could just take the boy and disappear somewhere else for a few more hours. But Leah muttered a quiet "Yeah" and the hope was dashed. "Thanks for today, Lee. I know it was your day off. If you want to head home, get some sleep or do whatever girls do when they're alone, that's cool."

She smacked him. As if she was going to leave him alone to deal with Sam and the spawn-of-Uley. Though… Jo had been very well behaved all day, according to Becca. They'd stayed in, watched TV and Becca had told her about the Quileute tribe; about her brother, and what she remembered of Joshua Uley. Jake laughed, just a little, and pulled her up with him when he stood, holding her tight to him. "You're awesome." His words were a statement of fact and she almost blushed. Then she _did_ blush- or flush, actually- when he kissed her as if he hadn't seen her in weeks and she regretted, suddenly, the decision to stay here with him. Having to step away from him when he kissed her like that, knowing that she couldn't drag him off to their bedroom and have her wicked way with him? Very difficult. He groaned into her mouth as he pulled back, but his hands rested comfortably under her shirt.

"Run away with me?" Her tone was teasing and she followed the words with another toe-curling kiss.

He would. He really, really would. If he had a choice, just for him and for no-one and nothing else? He'd run with her and keep running. Being Jake and Leah against the world sounded a hell of a lot easier- and more fun- than playing Chief; father; babysitter and mystical warrior. Somehow, though, he doubted that his Wolf form would survive the abandonment of his duties and running as a human would put a serious crimp on the actual _running_ aspect.

"When do we leave?" She didn't have a chance to answer- and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what she'd say- because the front door opened and Paul strode out, Will trapped safely under one arm, giggling.

"Sorry to interrupt-" He didn't _sound_ sorry; he sounded amused "but I have to go if I want to get to work on time." Jake took a step back and reached out to snag the little boy from under his father's arm. Will laughed again and the sound was enough, almost, to lighten the tension that had taken hold of his heart the second he'd seen Leah waiting for him.

"Go. We'll see you later. Unless Quil has to arrest me for… what's the word for gutting and skinning a wolf?" There was no sign that he was kidding.

"Justifiable homicide?" Paul suggested, with a grin. He waved over his shoulder, glad to be free from the Pack drama for the evening. Will, squished to his uncle's side, reached up to prod Jake's face- unused to seeing his uncle without a smile. The Alpha forced one onto his face just for the boy and grabbed hold of Leah's hand with his free one, dragging her up the steps and in the door with him.

Becca and Jo were seated and the TV was on but neither of them was watching it. Something indecipherable flashed through Becca's eyes as Jake approached, Will perching on his hip.

"Becks, can I speak to Jo alone for a minute?" His words were a clear dismissal. Jo, who had spent the day relying on Becca's kindness, didn't even watch her leave. _That_ stung, just a little.

Jake sat opposite the Crow girl, watching her fidget as she refused to meet his eyes. Will, babbling happily, sat on his knee. Leah retreated to the kitchen, following Becca.

"So. You're one of mine, then?" She glanced up, startled.

"What?" She was a _Crow, _regardless of who imprinted on her.

"Way I see it kid, you're mine twice over. You're a Quileute, or at least half, and one of my boys has imprinted on you. That makes you family; that makes you _Pack._"

Jo just blinked, confused.

"I'm a _Crow_. My mom is a Crow. I grew up on the Rez in Montana. That makes me a _Crow_." There was an unspoken _dumbass_ at the end of that sentence.

"That was true, sure, until Diana sent you here. She knew what would happen the second you set foot here; the minute I knew who you were- she knew that and she sent you here anyway." He let that sink in; let the child absorb that knowledge. It may have felt like a betrayal- he could certainly understand why Jo would think that- but to Jake, this felt like a test. He just wasn't sure what was being tested, or if the test was even for him. "I'm going to call your Mom and ask her to come up here and meet Tony, maybe. That okay with you, kid?" She met his eyes, then, tears pooled in her own and all she could do was nod, afraid that if she spoke the tears would fall. "None of this is your fault, you know that, right? Diana sent you here and she must have had a good reason- I'm the first to say that she's a manipulative bitch, but she's not _cruel._ You're Pack; you're Quileute- you deserve the chance to find out what that means. You have brothers, here, if you want them. You have Tony, dumbass that he is." She cracked a smile, just a little one, and one of her tears escaped and laid a trail to her chin. "You have the rest of us, too, and Sebastian and Henry aren't going anywhere."

"From what Leah told me, they probably wish they'd been sent home already." Her grin was lopsided, but just a little cheerier than before. Jake laughed loudly and Will grinned, bouncing up and down on his uncle's knee and clapping his tiny hands together.

"You want to see them? They're out trailing a patrol right now- if you want to phase and go meet up with them, I don't mind. Just don't leave the Rez and I won't have to hunt you down." He said it with humour but she knew he was serious, all the same. She agreed quickly and dashed out the back door- he figured she was in the sky before he even stood up.

He was leaving the house, Will under one arm and Leah wrapped in the other, when he realized what Diana was planning. If the kid had been just another Crow, he'd have accepted that she'd been sent here just to find out for sure, or even to get to know the other side of her heritage or whatever. But Jo wasn't just _any_ kid- she was the only child of Diana's second in command; her strongest ally amongst the Crow people.

And Jake had just adopted the kid into his Pack and offered her a home on the Rez. He might as well have issued a written invitation to the Crow people to set up shop on the Olympic Peninsula. Groaning, he related the realization to Leah and she laughed. Loudly.

"We have to give her props for sneakiness." She actually sounded like she admired the elder woman. Jake wasn't even angry with her, just frustrated.

"Why couldn't she have just _asked_? If she wanted to put some people here, we would have said yes! She didn't need to orchestrate this mess just to get someone in place here." He made a face, not noticing when Will mimicked it- scrunching up his nose and eyes just like his uncle did.

"Yeah, someone. But would we have let her second in here, indefinitely?" Probably not. Sneaky bitch.

They walked to the Clearwater home where Leah had sequestered Tim, Mike and Tony. Seth was watching over them- Jake was pretty sure that they'd be playing X-Box and squabbling over whatever leftovers were in the fridge.

Leah took Will into the garden while Jake went to _talk_ to the boys. She could hear every single word but didn't let it show as she watched her nephew plucking blades of grass and throwing them in the air. He laughed every time one landed on him, or on her where she sat next to him, and that was almost enough to distract her from the roasting the boys were getting.

Seth joined her outside after the first few minutes- he'd been banished for interrupting.

"He's really pissed." Duh, Seth.

"Someone could have been hurt." He wasn't worried about the Pack- he knew they could look after themselves- but there were a hundred other kids in that school and a dozen adults and they _couldn't_ match up to the shifters. They'd been _lucky_ that Seth was there to stop them; to intervene. If it hadn't been the elder boy it would have been one of the teachers or one of the regular kids- and that thought was unimaginable.

"Where are the Crow kids gone?" Jake hadn't mentioned it and Tony had been insufferable all day, wondering about Jo. Wondering and then worrying because he'd managed to imprint on the girl with two elder brothers in his Pack. Mike and Tim hadn't let him forget that one. Leah waved one lazy hand in the direction of the sky and Seth grunted his understanding in reply.

"You think this'll go on much longer? I have homework." She stared at him, incredulous, but caught the glint of humour in his eye that meant he was mostly-joking.

"How long will it take to beat the point into them?" Neither had an answer for that- but they'd find out the next time they phased, in any case. There were no secrets in the Pack.

Will, using her knee as leverage, hauled himself to his feet and offered Seth a fistful of grass with a grin.

"You got it little man. Who gives a shit?" Leah smacked her brother, telling him off for cursing around the baby. To her delight, the child repeated her gesture, smacking Seth on the leg and proclaiming "Shit" with a smile. Leah smothered her own grin, wondering if she could pin the word on Seth- based on the stricken look her brother was sporting, she was pretty sure she could even get the boy to apologise to Rachel for it.

* * *

"Ben, seriously, we're over okay? Just-" Becca let her head fall onto the table, frustrated. Her husband was just not getting the picture here. "You're _where?_" He was half-way to Seattle already."Don't come here." He was _coming_ here? How was that going to solve anything? She'd created enough problems for her family already without her husband turning up on the Rez. "Listen, I'll come meet you in Seattle and we can talk about it, okay?" On the other end of the line Ben agreed quickly, telling her he'd be there late that night and Becca hung up before he could change his mind. She should have known better than to marry such a stubborn guy in the first place- it made getting rid of him more difficult. Around her, the house was empty- Jake had sent the kid away and taken Will with him when he left. Rachel and Paul were still working. She stood in the living room doorway, staring at the photographs that lined the wall. There had never been photos on the wall when they were kids- that was something Rachel had started when she moved home.

Becca couldn't bring herself to look at the ones of her dad, smiling and grinning with Jake and Rachel. She had tried, back when Will was born, but it was hard to see them on the wall and realize that she didn't have any recent photos of _her_ with her dad. She packed a bag quickly and lifted the keys to the Rabbit from the wall. She left a note on the table, promising that she'd leave the car at the sheriff's station in Forks. If she rushed, she could get catch the five o'clock shuttle bus to Port Angeles and from there to Seattle. She knew that if she waited, Jake would have one of the boys drive her up but, even knowing what she knew about the boys and her brother, Becca wasn't going to ask them for help. She knew she'd been driving them all crazy since she'd returned home- she could do this, at least, on her own and stay out of their way for a few days. There seemed to be some pretty important Pack stuff going on anyway and she'd really rather not know about it. It was all just… just too far fetched for her, even having seen what she'd seen.

When she sat into the driver's seat of the Rabbit she glanced back at the house over her shoulder. It was raining again and the light was fading- in the dark, the house looked smaller than ever.

The roar of the Rabbit's engine drowned out the sinking feeling in her stomach.

* * *

"Listen, lady, I don't care who you shacked up with or when. All I know is that your girl Jo just got drafted into _my_ tribe by virtue of mystical spiritual bondage. Now you have two choices- you can come up here and visit with her, or you can _not_ come up here and see her." Jake suppressed the urge to snarl though he was sure that the woman deserved it. Diana's second in command was chatty, like most of the Crows, and smart and he might have considered her funny if she wasn't currently trying to make his head explode using only the power of her nagging.

Her name was Charlotte. Jake hated her already, after only three minutes on the phone. He was already beginning to think that Diana's plan was actually about getting _rid_ of this woman and not about getting a body onto the Quileute Rez. He could certainly understand that motivation- the Crow woman nagged more than all the middle-aged women on the Rez put together. He had tried explaining, for the third time, that he couldn't put Jo on the phone _because she wasn't there_ but the Crow didn't believe him. That's when he'd snapped and started ranting- and then she hung up and he couldn't hold in his sigh of relief. Seriously. What the fuck? He was _not_ prepared to deal with this shit. He threw the phone to Leah and she snatched it out of the air with a grin, dialing Diana's number without taking her gaze off him. He looked like shit- he'd already been through the ringer with the boys and then he'd been interrogated by Jo's mom. Leah had heard the whole thing from across the room- wolf ears missed very little.

Diana was more apologetic, offering excuses and explanations for her friend. Leah let her talk; months of dealing with Diana had taught her that letting the woman rant first would get her further- plus, she owed it to her considering the raking she'd given the women earlier that day. Not that she didn't deserve it, of course, but Leah was well aware that her mother remained in contact with the Crow woman and whatever else she was, Leah wasn't stupid.

"Just send her out here and she can see for herself, okay? Jo wants to meet her brothers- I'm taking her over to meet Sam and his wife tonight and, if she wants to, she can stay there tonight. Tony has been warned, repeatedly, that any unplanned pregnancies on this Reservation will result in his immediate castration. The kids will be fine- just… just don't pull this shit on us anymore, okay? We know what you're up to." Diana laughed nervously, immediately denying that she was up to anything and Leah just sighed. "Send Charlotte this way. We'll take it one step at a time from there, okay? I have to go." She hung up before she added the '_you're boring me'_ comment that was on the tip of her tongue. She met Jake's eyes across the room. "How far away could we get before she gets here?" She was joking; they couldn't run. But the thought was nice, sometimes. He grinned but he was so tired that it didn't reach his eyes.

"It depends. Are we kidnapping Will? Because we'll have to stop by the house and get his stuff if we're taking him with us." The boy in question was on the floor, balancing coloured blocks one on top of the other. He appeared to be concentrating very hard.

"Naw. If we want one of those we'll make our own." Jake raised an eyebrow at that and she laughed at his expression. "Not anytime soon, I swear. We're already raising a houseful of teenagers." More than a houseful if she counted the older men- and ninety percent of the time, she did.

He grunted, agreeing, and then groaned when the phone rang again. Goddamn Crows. They were as bad as the Cullens- on bad days, they were even worse.

* * *

A/N: Slow start, I know, but I swear the plot will be kicking in any day now… next chapter, even. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Is my name Stephanie Meyer? Thankfully, no. That'd get confusing.

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing chapter three. I apologize to those of you who had to deal with my minor freak out regarding it. I'm better now, I swear. :D

Onwards, etc.

* * *

The truck shuddered to a stop outside and Rachel sat there for a minute, just staring at her home. The lights were all off- which was unusual. Paul was working overnight but Jake normally stayed in the house with the baby. Groaning, she realized that meant that _something_ was happening. Pack drama. Gah.

Or maybe she was being paranoid and Paul's mom had kept Will for the evening, leaving Jake free to spend time with Leah. That had happened before, once or twice but it wouldn't explain where Becca was gone.

She was over thinking this, clearly. Definitely and completely- and it was a sign that she needed to get a life _outside_ the Pack, just as soon as she could scrounge up the time, money and energy.

It was raining so the porch steps were slippery and she almost fell twice on her ascent, grateful that the shape shifters weren't around to be reminded of her clumsiness. They wouldn't mock her or judge her, but sometimes it was embarrassing to be so completely normal around people who were extraordinary. But then, her normality was one of the things Paul loved best about her- her humanity, he said, was what drew the wolf to her. Lies, most likely, to make her feel better, but she did feel better for the words so she wasn't complaining.

The house, as suspected, was empty. Empty, but still warm; still home. She found her sister's note on the table and sighed- more Ben/Becca drama, just as she'd been hoping it would calm down and Becca would begin to get over him. Of course, this might mean Becca would go _back_ to him and Rachel wasn't sure if that would be a bad thing or not. She loved her sister, she really did, but Becca drove her _crazy_. She acted just like Rachel would have done, four years before- restless and anxious and taking it out on everyone around her- and of course, even though she knew that and understood it, it still drove Rachel to distraction.

She crumpled the note and threw it in the trash, frustration warring with affection as she considered her sister and then promptly decided not to waste her time thinking about Becca when, for once, she had the house to herself- that was a miracle in and of itself. Grinning, she ran a bath and sent Jake a text to say she was home and he could drop Will back whenever. If she was lucky, the child would be so tired from whatever Jake had been doing with him that he'd go straight to sleep. One bath, one glass of white wine and one chapter of whatever chick-lit book Becks had left lying around later and Rachel was feeling more like her old self than she had in months- relaxed; not panicking about something Pack-related and _clean_. She didn't smell like vomit or baby food and that sensation was particularly welcomed. She loved Will- had loved him from the second she realized he existed- but her nights off were rare and far between. Besides, he was almost a year old and had the most protective guard-dogs in the world looking out for him- she was _lucky_ she got to see him as much as she did.

She heard Jake stomping back into the house about a half-hour after her bathwater turned from hot to luke-warm. It was barely tepid when she stepped out; skin wrinkled and smelling of the bath salts Becks had left in the bathroom. She called out to Jake, asking if he was okay for another twenty minutes. Through the door, she could hear him agree and heard her son call out to her, slamming one chubby fist on the door and jabbering in words only he understood. She watched herself smile in the mirror and thought that, regardless of how hard it was or how they struggled with money and Vampires and half a dozen other things, she really was the luckiest person in the world.

Grin firmly in place, she sauntered into the living room, scooping up her son as he ran to her on wobbly legs.

"Hey little man. Did you have fun with Uncle Jake?" He nodded, resting his head on her shoulder- a sure sign that the kid was tired. Jake was lying on the sofa, legs dangling over the end. He'd outgrown the sofa before he'd even turned shifter. "How 'bout you, Jake? Did ya have fun with Will?" Jake grunted his agreement, swallowing a yawn. She raised an eyebrow, curious- Jake was _always_ more talkative after a day with Will. He usually recounted all the strange and stupid things her son had eaten or tried to eat over the course of the day. She shoved his legs off the end of the sofa, forcing him to sit up, and took the space next to him. "What's wrong?"

He filled her in quickly, not willing to linger on the details if he didn't have to. He'd chewed it all over again and again with Leah already.

"Huh. How's Sam coping? And Embry?" Jake just shrugged. He'd been putting off calling his brothers all evening- using the excuse that he was watching the midget and therefore couldn't dial a number or two. Rachel smacked him. "Get over to Sam's house now and see how he is. Call Embry on your way there- you know they're going to need you. Don't be a douche." Rachel, swearing in front of her son? She must be serious. He made a face at her but muttered his agreement regardless.

"You know it'll be karmic if his next word is d-o-u-c-h-e, right?" Rachel stared up at her brother, grin firmly in place.

"You think I'm stupid, kiddo? He's asleep." And, sure enough, the little boy was sound asleep, head resting on his mother's shoulder and his thumb in his mouth. Muttering about mom-dars, Jake stood up to leave, grabbing his phone from the table and casting glances around for his car keys. Leah had left the Rabbit here, earlier, hadn't she?

"Rach, you seen the car keys?" It was still raining and he'd had enough of getting rained on for the week.

"Oh. Yeah. Becca took the Rabbit- she's heading to Seattle to meet up with Ben and she left the car at the Sheriff's station." He'd have to call Quil and ask him to drop it home- otherwise, Jake didn't know when he'd have time to collect it. "Take the truck." She suggested, pointing at the keys on the table.

"She say what they were going to talk about?" She'd been resolute in ignoring her husband for weeks- something must've made her change her mind. Rachel shook her head though, as clueless as her brother.

"I hope she finally got sick of the phone ringing. I know I was more than ready for _that_ to stop." Jake too and he'd moved out the second Becca arrived home, so he hadn't even dealt with the worst of it.

"I'm staying here tonight so don't freak out if you hear me coming back later." They didn't talk about it; no-one even mentioned it out loud, but Rachel had nightmares, sometimes, and neither her husband nor her brother was happy leaving her alone at night. She tolerated their over protectiveness because she _did_ feel better knowing that one of them was in the house. But she never said that aloud, either.

"See you later Jake. Drive safe." Something their mom had always said to Billy when he'd driven away, back when they were kids. _Drive safe_. Rachel wasn't sure when she started saying it, too, but it was sometime after Will was born.

With a wave over his shoulder Jake was gone, out the door and down the steps. The rain was persistent and it was dark and kinda miserable. Typical La Push weather, but it seemed to be matching his mood today more than usual. Or maybe he was matching the weather for once; for once, he was unhappy and agitated.

Embry answered on the first ring, sounding relieved to hear Jake's voice, and Jake felt like a dick for not calling him earlier.

"You okay, dude?" The Pack didn't normally have to _talk_ about feelings- usually, all they had to do was _feel_ whatever it was and then everyone else would know anyway.

"I'm… coping. This has gotta be harder for Sam, right? I mean, I don't even know if she's my sister." Denial was one of the lesser-known superpowers of the La Push Shape shifters.

"Em, you know Sam doesn't think that." They _all_ knew that Sam thought of Embry as his little brother. It had taken years (and one massive reduction in Pack position) for the older man to admit it, but it had happened. And Embry would be lying if he said he didn't think the same way: Sam was his brother through the Pack, sure, but he was his _brother_, too, the same way that Rachel was Jake's sister. Well, maybe not quite the same way- they might not be there, yet. But they were getting there. If either Sam or Embry thought they were fooling Jake, they were only kidding themselves- he knew they talked on the phone every day. He knew that Sam had already asked Embry to be the Godfather to his unborn firstborn. That was a pretty big clue, right? "Besides, even if we don't know for sure, this is a pretty big addition and… don't make me get all girly here, Call, but I'm worried about you." Embry laughed and some of the tension seemed to ease from his voice.

"I'm okay, man. I spoke to Sam and he's gonna meet the kid and, I dunno, we'll take it from there. I'll visit her in Montana, or she can come to Spokane and meet me, maybe." Oh, that's right. Jake hadn't told anyone that the kid might be moving to La Push as part of the Crow's master plan to infiltrate their reservation. Huh. Sometimes, he forgot that they wouldn't know these things until he phased and shared with the Pack mind. D'oh.

"Good. I'm glad. But… if you need someone to talk to, you have my number, right?" That was _almost _an invitation for conversation; even if Jake would rather someone pull his teeth one by one than actually talk about feelings and stuff. Embry understood, though, and just agreed with a gruff 'Yeah, thanks'. They spoke for a few more minutes about college and whatever was new in La Push and then Jake pulled into the Uley's front yard and decided it was time to hang up and face the _difficult_ Uley brother. Embry wished him luck and the sound of the other man smirking was almost enough to make Jake turn the truck around and just go home.

Its not that Sam was trouble- he wasn't. He hadn't been trouble since the day Leah put him firmly in his place. In fact, it was the opposite- Sam was completely loyal; one hundred percent devoted to the Pack and one hundred percent committed to the reservation.

That was kinda the problem- Jake knew that Sam had been humiliated often enough by his father. He'd grown to see Embry as his brother, but that progress had taken years and was largely as a result of Emily's unending support. But he'd been abandoned by the man; cursed by the very blood that he was given by his own father; handed an illegitimate brother that proved that even when Joshua Uley _had_ been at home with his family, he was still a cheating dick, and now he had another sibling to prove that _after_ he left his family, he found some kind of happiness somewhere else. Or at least, happiness enough to make a baby and ditch it.

Jake could feel that heartbreak from outside the house- he'd been feeling it all day, ever since the news had been broken to Sam. He'd been trying to avoid this all day- but of course, he couldn't ask Leah to come over here. Not when it was _Sam_ and so fresh on the back of another heart-breaking imprinting. She was over it, sure, but what would be served in reminding all three of them of how much it had hurt them all?

He didn't let himself dwell too long in the truck, forcing open the creaking door and sprinting for the house as if the rain would melt him. He knocked once, but didn't wait for Emily to answer- he was Pack, he had a standing invitation. Inside, the couple were on the sofa, Emily curled under Sam's arm and looking entirely miserable. Sam himself looked pretty upset, too, though he did try to hide it. Emily did smile when she saw him- and it was genuine- but Sam couldn't even look at him; didn't meet his gaze.

"I spoke to Embry. He said you claimed to be fine." He held back the note of accusation, keeping his tone even and just letting Sam know that he knew differently. The older man shrugged.

"There's nothing he can do to make me feel better about this, so what's the point in having him worry?" Jake could understand that; hell, he _definitely_ understood that.

"He's your family, Sam. He'd want to know, if he knew there was something worth knowing." That sentence made more sense in his head, but he was pretty sure Sam understood. Maybe. "You're not okay- I can feel that from all the way across the Rez." If they were wolves, Sam's tail would be between his legs and he'd be on his back, whining and whimpering in misery. As a human, he just shrugged and Jake almost felt like telling him to phase and hashing it out like wolves would.

But that wouldn't be fair- it wasn't Sam's wolf side that was hurting; it wasn't the _wolf_ that had been abandoned by his family. Even Jake could see that the man in front of him was channeling his nine-year old self. He dropped into the armchair by the sofa and laid one hand on Sam's shoulder, offering support in the only way he knew how.

"Do you want me to send her away?" He would, for Sam, if he asked. Tony would find it difficult to deal with- Gods only knew how difficult- but if Sam asked, he would do it. To his relief, the other man shook his head.

"Not her fault that our father is a dick, Jake. It wasn't Embry's fault, and it's certainly not hers. It just… sucks, you know? And it sucks to find out this way, too. They could have just told us. Hell, they could have told us _two years ago_ because she was my sister then, too." There was an undercurrent of anger there that Jake hadn't expected- but he wasn't too surprised either, thinking about it. They _could_ have been told a long time ago, in a far kinder way. But Diana was apparently fond of dramatics.

"Do you want to meet her tonight? We can wait." He was more than happy to wait- he'd be delighted, in fact, if this could all wait a day or two.

"No. I want to meet her. I just don't know what I'm going to say." There was a look in his eye that Jake couldn't remember ever seeing in Sam Uley before. It was unsettling, but he couldn't quite place it. Jacob just nodded, squeezed the shoulder under his hand and stood.

He was almost at door before he realized what it was; almost left without commenting.

"You know you're not like him, don't you?" He turned back to Sam, his eyes on the other man. "You know that you're a good man, right? Jo, and Embry, they're _lucky_ to have you as their family- you understand that, don't you?" Sam looked shocked, but Emily was radiating joy, suddenly. "My dad was always really proud of you, Sam, and you know that I looked up to you for years- still do, for some things-" He said that with a grin, "What I mean is… my dad was a really good judge of character, Sam, and he knew you were a good guy; he knew that he could trust you to look after us, and you did. You went above and beyond what was expected of you." Billy Black really had held the former Alpha in very high esteem- whatever kind of wolf Sam made, he was a good _man_.

"You're a better man than your father ever was, and don't forget it." Maybe it was just hearing the words from someone other than his imprint; maybe it was hearing his Chief and Alpha say it, but some of the heartbreak that had been choking Jake all day seemed to lift, just a little. He crossed the room, back to Sam's side, and pulled the other man off the sofa and into a (very manly) hug. "We're your family, Sam, and we love you no matter what." That last bit was practically whispered- no way was _that_ show of girlishness getting back to the rest- because if Emily heard him say it, Leah would know about it within the hour. And she'd _never_ let him forget it. Sam just nodded into his shoulder and Jake clapped him heartily on the back. Twice.

"They're lucky to have you." He repeated, before breaking the embrace and dashing out the front door and back into the rain.

And no, those were _not_ tears on Jacob Black's face as he left Uley's house. It was _raining_. Duh. But the cloud of heartbreak that had been following him around all day was lifting, finally, and there might have been some relief, or something, that Sam was feeling better.

Any evidence of the not-tears was gone by the time he arrived home to collect Jo and bring her to the Uley's. Seth was doing homework and the two Crow boys had been exiled to patrol with Tim and Mike- punishment twice over for all of them, and Quil was there to stop any fighting. Tony and Jo were sitting in the living room, staring at each other and making small-talk. Leah was watching them carefully from the kitchen where she had her own books opened to study. She wasn't studying, but at least she had the books open, right? That was something. Proved she was thinking about it, at least.

She heard Jake coming long before he stepped in the front door; the truck had a pretty distinctive rumble that the Wolves could hear for miles. Hell, it made so much noise normal people could probably hear it for miles. Jake waved a hand in her direction- complete with cheesy grin- and motioned to Jo with his other hand to stand up.

"Come on kiddo, you're going to meet your brother and his wife." Tony lurched to standing too, but Jake just glared at him. "You- go home. Do your homework and go to sleep. If I so much as catch scent of you again this evening, I'm getting you castrated." He _had_ to get a new threat. They knew he wouldn't kick their asses; they knew he wouldn't take them to the vet to get the snip- what else had he got? Grounding them just meant they didn't have to patrol and patrolling meant they got to spend time with their friends. Maybe they needed to start patrolling in human form. In the rain. Carrying something heavy. "Lee, if I'm not back in an hour it's because I've eaten my body weight in muffins and need to be rolled out the front door." She smirked and bit back a laugh. Tony watched Jo leave with the same gormless expression she'd seen on all the imprinted wolves at one time or another- the 'how can I live without them next to me' look. It usually took a few months to wear off. Leah hoped Tony could get over it quicker- he was way too young for that level of commitment. She ignored the voice inside that reminded her that she'd been prepared to marry Sam when she was Tony's age. What did that voice know, anyway? It was a well known fact (Exhibit A: Bella freakin' Swan) that teenagers were _not_ emotionally ready for, like, marriage and stuff.

Again, she ignored the voice as it reminded her that she'd hooked up with Jake when he was still a teenager. Her argument was valid- _she_ hadn't been a teenager, that time.

"Tony?" She had to smack him across the back of his head to get his attention.

"Yeah?" His stare was verging on vacant and she recognized it well- the gaze of a man-boy intent on imaging dirty things about their imprint. Gah. Well- they weren't always dirty. Jared had always been thinking of really romantic shit, the big girl. And Quil, obviously, never thought dirty things about Claire- though, he did think about like, cartoons and tea parties and shit and that stuff was just _wrong_. Huh. So, it had really only been _Paul_ who'd imagined dirty things and he was only doing it to piss off Jacob but… whatever. That stare was the stare of the imprinted.

"Snap out of it kid. Its getting old." He blushed, which she chose not to tease him about in a heretofore unforeseen act of charity. "She'll be fine with Jake and Sam isn't going to hurt her, okay? He's her brother and he's never met her before- give the guy a chance to get to know her before you charge over there and declare your undying love." He blushed deeper and she was _almost_ shocked by her stellar insight.

Almost, but not really- because duh, she was Leah freakin' Clearwater and she was _always_ right. Just ask Jake.

"I feel really bad for her, Leah. She doesn't want to be here." The words he left unspoken were deafening.

"I know, kiddo, but we have to trust that there's a good reason for all this, okay? You've seen how happy Sam and Emily are, and Rachel and Paul. Jo will see that too, soon enough." He ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Not that bit, actually." He grinned widely, completely smitten. "She doesn't want to be in La Push- she doesn't want her Mom to come here." How could he possibly know all _that_? He'd only spoken to the chick for, like, a half hour and all they'd done was exchange phone numbers. Leah's eyes narrowed and she bit back a growl of sheer frustration.

"Did you sneak away earlier and meet her?" The colour left his face when he realized what he'd admitted to and Tony stepped back, away from his Alpha, and averted his gaze. That was all the answer Leah needed. "Do you know why we wanted to keep you two apart?" He shook his head; no. Seth, in the corner, looked up from his books when he scented his sister's fury. "It's because she's _fourteen_, you idiot. She's fourteen and she's in a new place with people she doesn't know and suddenly she has brothers and a fucking _soul mate_ and you're, what? Out there trying to seduce her in the woods?"

Tony couldn't even defend himself; he'd kissed her and he'd have done more if she'd let him. He hadn't thought about it- it had felt so _right. _ "Consider yourself on house arrest until further notice." He looked up then, confused. "You go to school and you go home; that's it. If I see you _anywhere_ on the Rez, I'm going to kick your ass, you got it?" He nodded once, abashed, and Leah felt briefly badly for her ranting- until she remembered that Jo was _fourteen_ and yeah, Tony was only two years older- but he forgot that she knew that he had a head full of memories of what _going further_ was and how to do it. Quil's memories alone were a how-to manual for seduction.

Fucking teenagers. Tony was barely out the door before she started throwing things.

* * *

The meeting at the Uley's was awkward, to say the least. Sam was jittery, but welcoming and Jo was nervous and quiet. Emily tried to fill in the gaps in conversation and Jake sat outside on the porch, trying to pretend he couldn't hear what was happening inside. They were all… nervous, or something. But, on the plus side, there had been no screaming; no tears and no-one had gotten punched. No-one phased and fled, either. That was a good sign, for any Pack family reunion. Jake was content to just watch the rain fall until Jo decided she was ready to leave- he'd promised her he'd be nearby all the time so if she wanted to flee, all she had to do was tell him. Hell, she didn't even have to say anything- just look at him and he'd get the message.

The kid was scarily good at begging with her eyes- and that had to be cheating, somehow. She'd already gotten him to promise not to scream at her mother _and_ to let her visit Tony the next day.

Though, that last one was up for debate based on the text message Leah sent him _and_ the confession he'd wrangled from the littlest Uley in the car on the way over.

He'd made her promise that she wouldn't get knocked up. His own words on it had been that, if she did, she'd never get away from La Push and the Pack because any kids conceived on the Olympic Peninsula were _his_ babies, too. It had sounded far less creepy in his head, but she seemed to just accept that as normal, which made Jake's head spin- and made him wonder for a moment if the Crows had another plan for Jared and Kim. No way, no how were they co-opting Jared- he'd pluck Diana's feathers with a tweezers and roast her over a spit before letting that happen. He made a mental note to tell Jared not to get Kim pregnant in Montana, just in case. He might be willing to fight over them, but he wouldn't like to have to.

Plus, the look on Jared's face when he passed on that message would be hilarious. The man was already freaking out that Sam and Paul were both dads. Jake didn't have the heart to tell him that _Kim_ had already admitted that she wasn't planning on kids until she was at least thirty. She'd told Jake that the day Will was born and he'd seen no signs of that resolve crumbling.

Inside, the conversation turned to school and other boring shit and Jake closed his eyes and lay back on the porch. Days like today reminded him why his father had a heart attack- there was no way to prepare for the stress of this shit. He didn't get to rest for long, the tinny shriek of his cell phone disturbing his otherwise peaceful (ish) rest.

He glanced briefly at the number but didn't recognize it- there were lots of digits, though, indicating a long distance call. He didn't recognise the country code. Hell, he wasn't even sure it was a different country- just… somewhere far away.

"Yeah?" And if he didn't know who was calling, he'd feel no guilt for being ignorant on the phone.

"Jake?" Unless of course, it was Esme Cullen calling and then he felt like a douche because she was practically Mother Theresa apart from the whole married thing. Oh, and the Vamp thing.

"What's wrong?" Esme would _never_ call him unless something was actually, actively, wrong. Her voice hitched a little over the line, though that could have been interference or dodgy reception or something.

"Have you seen or heard from Emmett and Rosalie?" Say what now? Emmett and Rose? They hadn't been through the Peninsula in over a year- he told her as much.

"Why, what's wrong? Where are they supposed to be?" Esme paused and he could hear her speaking to Edward in the background, muffled whispers that he couldn't make out over the phone.

"They were traveling in Mexico, I believe, and Alice has lost sight of them. She is worried but… Edward believes that they may have decided to visit the Pack and that may be why she has lost them." Jacob rolled his eyes, understanding. Alice had jumped to conclusions once before, so they were keeping a tighter rein on her, this time.

"Isn't Carlisle still in Forks? Wouldn't they call him and let him know if they were coming?" That said, Jake hadn't seen the doctor in a couple of weeks.

"No sweetie, Carlisle and I came to visit Edward, Bella and Nessie in Madrid. That's where we are now." Madrid… that was Spain, right? Wasn't Spain really sunny? Something about that struck Jake as particularly dumb, even for Edward. They'd been in Russia the last he'd heard- the last postcard Nessie had sent had been from St. Petersburg. It was on the fridge in Rachel's house, proudly displayed beside poster-paint covered hand-print of Will's.

He hadn't understood a word of it because she'd written it in Russian, but it was the thought that counted, right?

"Oh. Okay. I'll run by the house and see if there's any sign of them over there. I'm sure they're fine, Esme. Edward is probably right- they're probably on their way here." There was a lot of uncertainty in his tone and in his words and he was sure he'd done nothing to reassure her. Hell, he hadn't even reassured himself. He might not be a pompom waving supporter of Team Vampire but Rosalie and Emmett had proven themselves to him more than once- he counted them both as friends. Leah didn't like it, much, but even she had been impressed by Rosalie when they hunted together in Seattle.

Esme thanked him profusely and hung up and Jake shook himself, just a little. Had that really happened? Had Esme Cullen really just_ called_ him? He tried to remember if he'd ever even see Esme use a phone before and drew a blank. Freaky.

He dialed Diana for what felt like the hundredth time that day and was relieved when she answered without snapping at him.

"Have you had any weird reports from down Mexico way?" She might know something- the Crows had people scattered across the continent, though he didn't know where. "Two of the Cullens have gone AWOL and their family is worried."

"Are they hunting?" He bit back a sigh at her suspicious tone- if it had been Alice and Jasper missing, he might have worried, but not Rose and Emmett.

"No, I doubt it. They're pretty stuck on vegetarianism, you know." He tried to keep his tone light; snapping at Diana, however satisfying, wouldn't be a positive way to end his day. Of course, a positive end to the day would include Leah, some handcuffs and the chocolate sauce she had stashed in the cupboard in the kitchen. If Seth knew what they did with that stuff, he'd never put it on his ice cream again.

"Okay, okay, I get it." There was a note of sympathy in her voice, though he couldn't tell if it were for him or the Vampires. "I'll ask around and I'll let you know if I hear anything, I promise." The promise was clearly because she'd already pissed him off enough that week.

"Thanks Diana. I appreciate it." Of course, it was both good and bad luck that the Cullens needed something the same week he actually had something to hold over her freakin' head to ensure she helped. Good because it meant he had some leverage and bad because it meant his leverage was used up in less than a day. That sucked. He needed some better leverage so they could start on an even playing field for once.

He was just hanging up when the conversation inside turned teary and Jo dashed out onto the porch, eyes watering. She stared at him, unblinking, and he just gestured to the truck.

"I'll be there in a minute." He didn't give her the keys- he wasn't _crazy_- but it was unlocked, and he watched until she was safely ensconced in the passenger seat before heading inside.

Emily had tears in her eyes and Sam was just standing there, looking confused.

"Do I want to know?" Emily just shook her head, but she was smiling so Jake was sure that whatever it was couldn't have been too bad. No-one got punched; no-one phased. Hey, and no-one ran away. He was counting it as a win.

"Sam, when you're back in the room could you phase and ask whoever is on patrol to swing by the Cullen's place and see if there are any signs of life around there? Or, well, unlife. Whatever." Sam nodded dumbly, and raised an eyebrow at Emily. She nodded, assuring him that she'd make sure he did it. "Great. Thanks. Have them call me and check in when they're done." Emily nodded again and Jake just shook his head slowly, frowning a little at Sam's unresponsiveness, and disappeared back to the darkness outside.

The drive home was made in silence, Jo's slight sniffles the only sign of life in the car at all. He resolutely refused to ask her what was wrong- he was their Alpha, not their babysitter.

He did walk her inside but that was purely selfish- he wanted to see Leah before returning to the Black house for the night. Leah, of course, was less than impressed that the teenager he was returning was emotional and teary, but he made no apologies for it. He kissed her quickly, waved a greeting to Seth and disappeared before they could get into any girly shit about feelings or whatever.

By the time he got home, he'd completely forgotten about the Vampires and their issues. He had enough of his own to deal with, anyway. Right?

* * *

A/N: OMG. Vampires. Who knew they existed in this fic, even if only over the phone?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight. Woe is me.

A/N: Based on some feedback (thanks, guys!) I think it's important to note here that, yes, the Pack lifestyle is kind of monotonous and, dare I say it, boring. That was the point I was aiming for- that they're adjusting back to real life and trying to make the best of their situation. This, unfortunately, means growing up quickly and shouldering a lot of responsibilities. It might not be fair and it might not be fun, but I guess that's what I see their lives turning out like in the long-run. If it's not working, I need you guys to tell me, please! :)

* * *

Leah didn't sleep well that night; not well at all. She didn't like to admit it, but the nights that Jake slept curled around her were the nights that she woke feeling most rested- and with him gone (stupid Rachel) she just didn't sleep the same way. Plus, he'd delivered a crying, upset teenage girl to her care and then disappeared without so much as an explanation and it had been a _long_ time since Leah had last had to translate hysterical girl-speak. And she had never been very good at it to start- she was the one who used to wield the bitter truth like a weapon, instead of extending sympathy or whatever.

Being the responsible adult sucked and someone should have warned her about _that_ before she'd decided that it was a great idea to grow up and become one. The situation was almost enough to make her envy the Cullen's- they were eternally teenagers; no responsibilities; nothing tying them down. Granted, they were boring as hell and couldn't go out in the sun or do any of the good stuff that was what being human was all about, but Leah was tired and grumpy and therefore couldn't be held accountable for her subconscious.

So it was perfectly understandable that she was in a foul mood when she woke, early, for her turn running the borders. Her houseguest was asleep, exhausted from incoherent explanations and a lot of sobbing. The whole thing was just made worse by the fact that Leah _knew_ she'd have to get the whole story from Sam, which would have been fine maybe, except that it meant she had to speak to _Emily_ (because, really, would Sam even understand what happened?) too, and her cousin was pregnant; hormonal and don't forget _pregnant_. Leah liked to think that Emily got knocked up just so that Leah would have to be nice to her again. And it was working, too. The conniving Makah bitch. At least Leah had dibs on godmother to their spawn- she had every intention of sugaring that kid up at every opportunity and handing it back with a grin. She was family, so she could do that, right?

She ignored breakfast and showering in favour of standing on her back porch and gazing out over the forest. It was dark, still, but there were faint traces of light to the east and she could almost feel the sunshine already. There were no clouds overhead, for once, and the air was crisp and clean; the scent of sea air that never failed to make her feel at home.

The door swung shut after her and she stripped quickly, dropping her clothing in a pile on the porch and she leapt from the porch and landed on four paws, seconds later.

Tim was waiting, pacing the roadway in front of his home, and he was as excited as a puppy to have her to himself in his head for a minute. She pretended not to notice; it would be weird.

_Quil checked the Cullen place, like Jake asked. There's no-one there. He says the house hasn't been open in months._She caught a flash of the empty, cold, manor and another of Quil- of the mental image for Quil that Tim had; the other wolf in mid-run and the scent of wilderness, play-doh and _little girl_ that made up Claire.

_Say what?_ The hell was the kid talking about? Why was anyone up at the Cullen's place?

_Dunno. Sam asked the guys to check it out last night; Jake asked him_. A flash of Jake in human form, sitting on the back steps of her house; scent of salt and earth. That was the image that a lot of the Pack carried of him- silent, serious and in control.

Seth joked that Jake had nailed the _calm, assertive_ energy that the dog whisperer dude on the Discovery Channel talked about and Leah thought the idea was hilarious- she'd given him the box set for Christmas, even. Jake had been less than impressed but he'd admitted that the idea had some merit. Leah had laughed at that for _weeks_ afterward- though none of the rest of the Pack had the stones to even think about it when either of them was listening.

_Right. I'll find out later. Go home, Tim- be good, today, yeah?_ His embarrassment flushed across her mind and she acknowledged it with a mental nod- she wasn't angry with them, anymore. Not really. She was pissed at Joshua Uley and Diana and Jo's mom and a bunch of other people, but not with Tim and the kids.

And then she was alone in her head; gloriously alone for once, with the wind howling around her ears and the scent of salt thick in the air. She had ten minutes, maybe fifteen, before someone phased and joined her- she couldn't remember who was supposed to be out already. Seth, maybe, but she'd left him asleep and God knows when he'd wake if she wasn't there to pull him out of bed. Curiosity drove her to the Cullen house; where it sat, empty and abandoned and surrounded by forest. The house was cold and empty, just as Tim had relayed, but she checked anyway, scenting Quil but nothing that indicated any of the Cullens. She knew that Esme had arranged for someone from Forks to visit once a week and open the windows for an hour; turn on the heat, check the pipes- Whatever it was that people did when a house had been abandoned. There was a faint trace of that, human, scent but little else. The cars in the garage hadn't been moved; none of the doors had been opened in days.

Leah made a note to tell Esme that whoever she had coming to check up on the house was doing a shitty job- they hadn't been by in more than a week, she thought. Maybe it was less, but the wolf doubted it.

She was running toward the sea when Jake phased. He was surprised- and annoyed- to find her alone.

_What the hell, Leah? You're _alone_ and sneaking around a Vampire's house?_ He was almost snarling in her mind; flashes of anger and fear that he couldn't contain.

_What? I've been out solo before__- and it's an _empty_ Vampire house. It's not a big deal Jake. _What was he, a twelve year old girl? Scratch that- a twelve year old girl would know better than to imply that Leah was less than capable of looking after herself.

_Esme called- Rosalie and Emmett and missing_.

She was so shocked; so stunned by that news that she missed a step and stumbled. That was embarrassing- thankfully, none of the others were there to see her do it. Definitely explained was Jake was pissy, though.

_I'd have known that if you'd told me._ Shocked, she might be, but it was _his_ fault she didn't know and she made sure he knew that, too. _And you didn't have any qualms about Quil coming out here last night, so don't bitch at me for checking it out._

Wisely, he stayed quiet, but she could feel the anger bubbling under the surface. It was rare, these days, for Jake to be so angry and certainly over something so stupid.

_What happened, Jake? What's wrong?_ She saw through his eyes as he glanced back inside the Black house. Rachel was in the kitchen and there was the faintest scent of tears in the air and Leah felt a bolt of panic straight to her heart. In her mind, Jake's anger was tinged with sadness.

_Will woke up this morning with a fever_ Her panic spiked and Leah spun, changing direction to head back to La Push before Jake could reassure her. _He's fine, Leah, I swear- he's _fine_. _Her breathing calmed and she cursed him, loudly, for freaking her out. She ignored entirely the wave of amusement that washed over him. _Rachel called her boss and said she couldn't come in, that Will needed her. She got fired. _The rest of his thoughts were overcome by a wash of anger and incoherent cursing.

Dammit. If she'd been in human form, she'd have her head in her hands and her eyes closed, praying that Jake was wrong. They couldn't afford to have Rachel out of work, not now. But her wishing it wouldn't make it any different- Rachel got sacked, for trying to take a day off to spend with her sick son. She _knew_ things were shit in the world and everyone had it tough, but that right there? That was just shit. Humanity sucked.

_Can they do that? Is it even legal?_ It couldn't be allowed- the kid was sick and Rachel hadn't taken that many other days off- just two, the month before when Becca arrived home and had been, like, comatose and crying, and one the month before that to go to Emily's doctors appointment because Emily hadn't wanted Sam to know until she knew everything was okay, and two days in November when Paul was sent overnight for training to Montana and… well, now she thought about it, Rachel took a lot of days off work. Crap.

_Yeah. There's nothing she can do. She tried- she said she'd go to work today and I was going to take the day off, but it wasn't enough. _Jake took the day off work, anyway. His boss knew a good thing when he had one- Jake was cheap, worked hard, and was ahead of schedule on what he was supposed to be working on, anyway. They fell silent; Leah running the borders and Jake pacing the back porch of the Black house and rolling things over and over in his head.

_What happened to Rosalie and Emmett?_ She'd almost forgotten about them, in the middle of it all.

_Dunno. Probably nothing._ He replayed the conversation in his head and she saw it all and silently agreed- Alice was probably freaking out about nothing. Whatever. They weren't here; that was all Leah knew and she had other things to worry about. _Was Jo okay last night?_ He was even concerned, so Leah didn't bitch at him like she wanted to. And he genuinely didn't know what happened- he'd been on the phone when things went tits up in the Uley house; all he knew was that there was a teenage girl crying in his truck and that was… awkward.

_Jo told me._ Leah told him, then, exactly what had happened to send the girl running from Sam in tears- and neither of them could blame her for it. Neither of them could blame Sam for saying what he did, either.

Sam had not taken the news that Joshua Uley was in regular contact- Christmas, summers, birthdays- with one of his children and not the rest of them particularly well. In fact, he'd been pretty pissed about it. He'd shouted at Jo, asking what made her so fucking special that their father could still be _her_ father when he'd just abandoned Sam and never looked twice at Embry. Jo didn't have an answer- everything she knew about her dad had been pulled out from under her feet and Sam, who she'd been told was a nice guy, went apeshit when she tried to tell him what Joshua had been doing since he'd left La Push. She thought he'd appreciate knowing- clearly, she was wrong. Or, not wrong, but her delivery could use some work.

_Whoa. No wonder he was pissed_. There was a niggling feeling of regret from Jake- he felt he should have been paying closer attention; he should have known what had happened and been there when it all went to hell, instead of pissing around on the phone, catering to the Vampire's paranoia. _Did Jo say what time we should be expecting her Mom at?_ He was looking forward to meeting her; Leah was looking forward to the expression on the bitch's face when she smacked her. Who the hell sent their kid off to meet their brothers without a word of warning?

_No. Sometime tonight though, I think. She couldn't get here much sooner than that._ She didn't even want to think about where they were going to put the woman- it wasn't like they had an abundance of spare rooms scattered across the Rez and she certainly couldn't leave the woman with Sam and Emily. That _had_ been the tentative plan- but it was shot to hell, now.

Fucking crows- they were decent in a crisis, sure, but the rest of the time Leah would be just as happy to be shot of them. Dicks. Well- Jo wasn't that bad and the two boys were tolerable when they weren't trying to behead Tony with their eyes. And Marianne had kinda grown on her, and Diana was okay, most of the time, but… who was she kidding? Leah was up to her eyeballs in the Crow people and it was only going to get worse- especially as they now seemed to be in the middle of some messed up Crow nation political sideswipe.

If Diana or _any_ of her cronies thought that the Quileutes were going to roll over and play nice, they were severely misinformed. Jake echoed her thoughts with glee, taking great comfort in the idea of Leah handing out the violence that he couldn't deliver. But then, Jake thought she was hot when she got all Alpha-ish and suddenly his thoughts took a different turn and if Leah had been human, she'd have been blushing and smacking him. But _that_ thought just made him worse, teasing her and taunting her about the things he'd do to her if she was home with him and she was sputtering at him to stop because someone could phase and _dammit_ she didn't want any of the boys to hear what he was saying to her; but he'd cheered up, a little, and the darkness seemed to have receded, so her denials weren't strong and she didn't really mind, anyway.

They weren't alone for long- Jared phased, in Montana, checking in for the day and moments later Sam and Embry joined them. The conversation was stilted; Sam was embarrassed about his outburst and hurting, under it all, so Jared tried to distract him, telling stories about what living with the Crow people was like- coaxing laughter from the former Alpha in the way that only an old friend can. Leah took the laughter as her sign to phase out; time to get the kids to school and get to work.

She dressed quickly on the porch- her clothes were damp from the morning dew, but that was nothing new. They'd dry in minutes from her super-heated skin; one of the benefits of being a wolf part-time. Seth was awake, studying the bottom of his cereal bowl intensely and he grunted a noise that Leah supposed was a greeting- hard to know, really.

"You're in charge at the school today, okay? The Crow boys won't be there but if any of ours act up I expect you to squash it." She met his startled glance. "That okay?" He nodded slowly, swallowing his cereal and looking a little shocked. Her little brother certainly wasn't used to being put in _charge_ of anything more complicated than the toaster. "Good. I'll wake Jo- she's going in with you. Be nice to her; things with Sam were shit yesterday and her mom will be here this evening. And I expect you to chaperone if she starts making eyes at Tony." Leah grinned, just a little, "I'm gonna call mom and ask her to come out here and meet with that witch." Petty, petty revenge- trying to sic Sue Clearwater on the unsuspecting woman. Leah hoped that Sue would make her cry. A lot. Some sniveling would be nice, too. And she wouldn't be adverse to a few apologies, either.

Jo was already awake when Leah knocked and the wolf-shifter repeated the instructions for the day and got an emphatic promise from Jo that she would be on her best behaviour all day. Of course, she spent enough time in the minds of teenagers (albeit, teenage _boys_) to know that they'll promise something with every _intention_ of carrying through and then promptly forget they ever promised it. Leah preferred to pretend that she skipped that aspect of her development entirely. These days, it was easier to pretend that she sprang from the earth, fully-formed, at the age of twenty because, apart from anything else, her mother had shacked up with the sheriff and the mere thought of having been grown in the place that Charlie Swan was regularly lusting after… if she'd eaten recently, she would have vomited. Still, if she could draft Sue in to deal with this Crow stuff, she'd ignore the little voice inside that wanted to rip Charlie into teeny tiny pieces for having the gall to touch her mother.

She was hiding in her room trying to bleach her brain when Seth and Jo trooped out the front door and called goodbyes that she would have heard from half-way across the Rez. She could only hope that _this_ day would go better than the previous one- the Crow twins had been dispatched (in theory, anyway. Who knew what Embry's mom was actually going to do with them?) to Jake's for the day, where he'd promised to make them miserable _and_ explain that imprinting wasn't the evil, dark, creepy secret of the Quileute people even though Jake maybe thought it was. They'd be watching him rebuild bits of a dirty old truck all day, in a garage that was damp and smelly and every bit the dive it looked like from the outside, so Leah was pretty sure they'd be miserable. They weren't stupid- no siree. The Crows liked wide open spaces, clear skies and no roof over their heads. Lock-down for them would be spending their day inside, lathered in grease and grime without a window in sight. The garage wasn't her favourite place, either, but at least her wolf liked dark and cosy.

She drifted back to sleep with the thought that if Jake didn't kill them before noon, they might even _learn_ something.

* * *

Hours later, Jake was seriously considering murder. Quil worked with the sheriff and Jake knew the forest around Forks better than any of the non-shifters. If he was gonna do it, he'd never get caught. Well, not by the humans anyway. As a kid, the Black sisters had been inseparable. They'd dressed the same, finished each other's sentences, laughed at the same jokes and made their brother miserable by _always_ blaming him when something went wrong. Jake, naïve as he had been, had always assumed that they were as bad as a set of twins could _get_ but clearly someone out there was punishing him and they'd sent him two inhuman monsters to prove to him that the lies he'd told himself as a child were just that. Henry and Sebastian? They _had_ to be evil.

They'd followed him to work, complaining all the way in muttered whispers and half-sentences. Then they'd complained about the garage, about the smell, about having to be there, about imprinting; Forks; the forest; the rain and what was on the radio. Jake gave patience his best shot, he really did, but by the time lunch rolled around he was ready to call Quil and turn himself in before he _actually_ did some damage.

Gordon, his boss, had just laughed at him- told him it was character-building and 'that's what kids are like, man'. Of course, the older man had also put in his earphones and turned up the volume on his damn iPod so Jake was the only one who was even hearing all the complaints.

Gordon went home for lunch and Jake forced the twins into the tiny back room with their brown-bagged lunches from Mrs. Call. He had to get away from them for just a minute. _One_ minute; two if he was lucky- he even had a real reason.

"Esme?" Gordon had told him he could use the phone in the office to call internationally, but that the cost of the call would come out of his wages. Jake hadn't complained because he had no other options and Gordon was already being really good about letting two random teenagers sit and snipe in the garage all day. Though, he had made the boys clean the bathroom and haul rubbish for half the morning so _maybe_ some of their complaining was justified but whatever- their slave labour should more than make up for one stupid call to Spain.

"Jacob." Not Esme. Edward. Bleh. "Do you have news?" Jake hadn't given any of it much thought, really. But there was a note of concern in the leech's voice that was out of place. Edward usually sounded kinda… emotionally constipated, so if something leaked out then there was a serious _something_ behind it.

"Sorry, no. There's been no activity at the house in days, but we're keeping our eyes open." Diana owed him- she'd better be pulling out all the stops. Edward's lack of response was worrying. "What happened?" The Vampire exhaled a needless breath, an affection that the Cullens used consciously to make them appear more human. On bad days (this was already shaping up to be one), it annoyed Jake. They weren't human- wasn't that the _point_?

"We don't know. Usually, we stay in close contact when we separate. Rosalie had been calling Esme and Alice every day and Jasper heard from Emmett several times. Alice began to worry three days ago, when she realized that no-one had spoken to Rose in two days." Jake heard voices in the background, too indistinct to understand but he recognized them- Jasper and Bella. The rest of the Cullen Clan had gathered together. "We're getting on a plane to Mexico city in an hour to start tracking them down."

"Is there anything I can do?" The question was out before he could bite it back- he didn't have time to do _anything_. He couldn't take time off work and run to Mexico, for God's sake. There was silence for a moment on the other end of the line and Jake started chanting _say no_ in his head. Leah was going to kill him if they had to go to Mexico. Though, if it was on the Cullen's dime, it wouldn't be too bad, right? Almost like a holiday. Except… he didn't have a passport, anyway. Did he even need one to go to Mexico? He must, right? They wouldn't just let anyone cross the border and sure, he could phase but that'd be sucky and, oh yeah, he was waiting for Edward to say something, wasn't he?

"I do not want Renesmee placed in any danger. May I send her to your home for protection?" Wait, what? Edward was willing to leave his only child with _Jake_, alone, on a reservation filled with her natural enemy?

"Are you high?" Jesus, he needed to regain his brain-mouth filter. "I mean, yeah, Ness can come here but… I can't believe you're suggesting it."

"We have a lot of ground to cover and we have already lost time. I'll deliver her to Seattle myself, on the next available flight. Bella will text you the flight details." And, wonders never ceasing, Edward I'm-so-polite-I-shit-platitudes Cullen _hung up_ on him.

"Stupid fucking vampire drama." He cursed, dropping the phone back into its cradle and sighing, annoyed. He loved Ness, he really did, but he really didn't have time to babysit the half-vampire. His phone beeped, seconds later, and Bella's still-familiar number popped up on screen. Edward and Nessie would be landing in Seattle at midnight with Edward catching another flight out to Mexico at two a.m. Jake needed to be at the Rez to meet with Jo's mom but he was pretty sure that he was the only Pack member who'd be even willing to share car space with the child for hours on end. Well, Seth or Leah might but Leah was eager to tear pieces off the Crow and Seth was designated babysitter for the duration of the Crow's stay. He'd have to go himself. _Fuck_.

He took a deep breath, trying to quell the panic that was rising inside. He didn't have time for this shit- he had a half-day of work ahead of him before he could even start thinking about going to Seattle to collect the newest complication. What age would Ness be, now? She was almost four, but she was still growing fast so she'd be eight or nine-sized, he thought. Creepy as fuck. He took two minutes to text an update to Leah, knowing she'd be supremely unimpressed, and he'd been planning on sending the twins away to annoy Rachel for a while when he heard a crash from the back-room and some whispered deliberations on how to fix the broken window.

Jake groaned, took another deep breath, and prepared to rip the boys a new asshole- they were already on his shit list and now he'd have to replace that freaking window. He'd been nice to them, all morning. Playtime was over- he was going to find the nastiest, smelliest, dirtiest jobs he could and demand perfection. The gutters hadn't been cleaned out in years- that'd do to get them started, at least.

* * *

As predicted, Leah had been less than impressed with the new development, but she'd agreed that they had little other choice. Jake _had_ promised once that he'd help the Cullens in whatever they needed and the Pack would have had to uphold that promise even if their Alpha hadn't already loved the half-vampire anyway.

She was waiting for him when he got home from work, arms crossed under her breasts and an almost-sneer in place on her face.

"You're gonna owe me big." He knew that, already. He was leaving her to face down the Uley family drama and the Crow invasion on her own, albeit with Sue Clearwater as her scary-as-hell backup. He let a grin drift across his face, regardless. Leah was _hot_ when she was pissed and yeah, she was really pissed. She smacked him, hard, when he moved within striking range, but didn't really object when he pushed up close to her, resting his hands at the small of her back and dropping his face into her neck.

"I'm sorry." She _hmm'd_ and she sounded really, really annoyed. "You know I have to and you know I wouldn't if there was anyone else. You can go if you want?" She almost laughed at that and the tension in her body ebbed enough that her hands crept to his shoulders.

"Can't we just get Becks to collect her?" Jake shook himself, a little, at that. He'd completely forgotten that Becca was even in Seattle. If she was- she could be back in Hawaii by now and he wouldn't know. He should probably call and ask if she needed a ride back to La Push. God knows she'd be pissed if she found out _he_ was in the city and hadn't thought of it.

"You know as well as I do that Edward wouldn't let his little princess go anywhere with someone as _normal_ as Becks." The unfortunate truth. Getting Becks to collect the girl would be damned convenient- but Edward would never agree to it. She made a noise that could have been agreement and pulled his head up, suddenly, meeting his startled gaze with her own, steely, one.

"You owe me, _big_." She repeated. She might have still been annoyed, but she kissed him anyway, wet and warm and promising payback in the best way. He broke away from her, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath. He could feel her smile against his neck as she pressed her lips to his skin and she wasn't making it any easier to leave- which was probably her point. "When are you leaving?" Her words were soft and he shivered when her breath caressed his skin, damp from her kiss and tingling where she had touched him.

"Later." He _should_ be leaving already, to be sure he got there on time, but sometimes you have to prioritize.

* * *

It was raining hard as he left the Rez, wipers battling against the wind and water to maintain some visibility. Jake's eyesight was better than a normal person's and he still found it difficult, squinting and peering into the dark, to see where he was going. Stupid freaking vampires and their vampire drama.

Hours later Jake was waiting in the arrivals hall at Sea-Tac, sprawled on one of the most uncomfortable chairs in the history of furniture with his long legs taking up most of the aisle space. He was ignoring all the people who were staring- yes, he was very tall. Yes, he was Native. Yes, he was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt when it was cold and raining outside. No, he did not care and he did not want to make a new friend; girlfriend or agent. Four different people had already asked him to sign autographs, convinced that he couldn't be _that_ tall and not play ball.

After the third one, Jake had given up trying to explain and he'd just signed the jersey that had been thrust in his direction. On top of that annoyance, Edward's plane was delayed because of the weather and Becca hadn't answered his calls. He'd left two voice-mails and sent a text and he really didn't want to know what she was up to that she couldn't even answer the phone. Seeing Rachel in Paul's mind had been bad enough, though that rarely happened anymore because Paul's control had gotten so much better.

And to make things worse Leah's last update had been to say that Sue had dragged Charlotte into Forks to stay with her, leaving Jo with Leah (again). They were both pretty sure that they'd never find out what was said- Sue had been ready to spit nails when her daughter filled her in and Jake was, in turns, relieved and annoyed that Sue had taken it on herself to sort the situation out.

All that aside, he'd enjoyed the drive- hours alone with just the radio and the car for company; no-one demanding anything of him, just the miles ticking past. It was nice, to be alone for a while; to get away from the Pack and the Rez and everything that came with both. La Push was home, sure, but sometimes it was easy to forget that there was a whole world outside the reservation. Waiting in the airport still sucked, though. It had been a long drive and he was tired and he just wanted the kid to get here so he could go home. He was already looking forward to all the strange looks he'd get as a large, dark-skinned, man leading the whitest white girl in the world to his car. At least Ness was old enough, now, that she could explain that he was her uncle or whatever and he wouldn't get arrested for being a pervert.

Edward wouldn't appreciate it if Ness ended up in foster care in Seattle because people thought he was kidnapping the kid and Leah would kick his ass if she had to come up and bail him out.

He was knocked from his thoughts by the sweet scent of decay that drifted to him, moments before Edward and Ness came through the gates. He offered a wave from beyond the barriers and Ness dropped her father's hand and broke into a run; racing to him as though she hadn't seen him in years. It had been about eighteen months, so she wasn't really wrong. She was taller and her hair was blonder from weeks spent in the sun, though her skin remained pale. She threw herself into his arms with a squeal of excitement and Jake let himself grin, happy in the moment to see the child again as he spun her around and she giggled.

Edward was only seconds behind her, toting her luggage and smiling indulgently. Jake had spent enough time with the Vampire to see the tension behind the smile but there were too many people around for him to even consider commenting. Instead, he shifted Ness onto his hip and held her in place with one hand and took her suitcase in the other.

"I'll keep her safe." He promised, letting Edward see the sincerity in his mind as well as his words. The Vampire just nodded, solemn, and said his goodbyes to his daughter. "Keep in touch, Ed." _Tell me if you need us. _Jake was glad that Jasper wasn't there to catch the sudden jolt of fear that shot through Jake's heart as he realized, really realized, how serious the Cullens must be about this to even be considering leaving Ness alone on the peninsula with the Quileutes. Edward just nodded, kissed his child on her forehead, and disappeared back into the crowd.

"Let's the hell out of here, eh Ness? Airports suck." She sniffled, just a little, and fought back tears. "It'll be okay, Ness. Your dad will find them." He didn't want to think what would happen if they didn't. She buried her head in his shoulder and pressed one hand to the bare skin of his arm, relaying the words she was too afraid to say aloud.

_Aunt Alice__ believes that they are already dead. Father saw it in her mind and he worries that it is true. He wanted to send Mother here with me but she told him no. She is afraid that there might be another like Louisa._ He growled at the mention of that name; the half-vampire that had mind-fucked them all. Rosalie had killed her. Bella _should_ be able to stop the mind-tricks, but it hadn't worked the last time. She blamed herself for that- he knew why she'd refuse to stay home this time, just in case.

Deep in his heart, Jake prayed that there was nothing else out there like Louisa.

* * *

A/N: OMG. *Vampires*. Where'd they come from?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Me no own Twilight.

A/N: This one contains _some_ lemony behaviour between our favourite Alpha pair so… you're warned, if you want to skim it. :)

Massive thank yous to everyone for reading and reviewing the last chapter! :)

* * *

It was so late it was early when Jake finally got home. The car journey back to La Push had been exhausting- not physically, though Jake was certainly feeling the strain of being awake so late, but mentally. Nessie had always been kinda… precocious. She was an only child; the last of her _species_ as far as anyone knew and she was used to getting her own way. This time, she was being denied what she wanted (to seek her aunt and uncle with the rest of her family) and being banished back to a place that held some of her most frightening memories.

As a result of whatever fear and anger was lingering in the child, she seemed to have decided that the best way to cope was to fill Jake in on every little detail of every single trip she'd taken since she saw him last. Who knew that there were over two hundred churches in Madrid? Well, now Jake knew _and_ he knew that while Edward had been to them _all_, Nessie had only been allowed to visit seventeen.

Seventeen. _Seventeen_. She had spoken for five whole minutes on how disappointed she was that she couldn't see _more_ churches. Jake honestly believed that his head was going to explode. He tried to point out to her that visiting them all would take a long time and that they were limited by her parent's ability to go out only at night in a country as sunny as Spain. Nessie had merely blinked at him, confused, and mentioned that she could have gone alone.

Explaining why a young American child would be out of place _alone_ in the Spanish capital incurred just as much resistance. Nessie declared that because she wasn't like other children she would have been perfectly safe _and_ she spoke Spanish so she would have been able to find her way around perfectly well, thank you very much, and her parents just didn't understand what it was like to be a child and to be locked away all day waiting for the sun to go down just because _they_ sparkled in the sunlight. _She_ shouldn't be a prisoner because her _parents_ were freaks.

Jake could hardly keep up with her twisting logic and eventually, he just agreed that it was unfair of them to expect her to stay indoors when she shouldn't have to. He even promised that she could go outside in the Reservation as often as she liked, though she didn't catch him rolling his eyes as the rain started coming down even harder, then. Give the girl two days of getting rained on non-stop and he was pretty sure she'd be happy to stay indoors for the rest of her… visit.

Nessie finally fell asleep outside of Olympia and Jake couldn't help but be relieved. He loved her; he did, but seriously? How were Edward and Bella coping with _this_ all the time? The girl wasn't even a teenager yet and she was moody and touchy and reminded him more of Becca and Rachel than of Bella. But then, he hadn't seen Bella when she was thirteen- maybe this snottiness was exactly what his friend had been like.

When they finally got back to La Push he had to wake her to get her seat belt off and get her into the house. She moved in a half-awake daze and he realized that, for all her complaining, she was very used to moving in the middle of the night and he couldn't help but wonder if she'd felt at home at all in the last two years. She was still just a kid.

Luckily, she fell back to sleep with no trouble when he got her set up on the couch in the living room. With Henry and Seb staying with Embry's mother, Jo had the spare room to herself and Seth got his own room back. Tomorrow Seth would be back on the couch, Jake thought. Best keep the half-vampire out of the direct line of fire for a day or two, just in case. That said, the entire Pack would know by now that she was on the Rez- her scent would travel as fast as the gossip had, Jake was sure.

She smelled more strongly of Vampire now than she had as a baby. It was disconcerting and distracting and he'd had to drive home with his window open- and he'd opened one in the kitchen, too, to get some of the Vampire stink out of the house. It was strange and he wondered if the Cullens had even noticed. He wondered, too, if it meant her growth was slowing because he had, kind of, been expecting her to look about nine but she appeared closer to seven, ish, though tall.

Leah woke when he opened the front door, but she stayed in bed, waiting for him and dozing in a half-conscious state despite the scent that stung her nose. He didn't take long to slip into the bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest.

"Everything okay?" Her words were a whisper. She could feel him shrug and resisted the urge to roll her eyes or, maybe, smack him. "Did Edward get his flight?" God, she hoped so. She could live without an over-protective nanny-Vamp on Tribal lands because his missed his connection.

"Yeah." Jake's voice was pitched low; deep from tiredness. His nose pressed into the curve of her neck and she heard him inhale her scent and she grinned. Jake didn't want to talk and he was tired, sure, but he was never too tired to try making her shiver in that _special _way. She could feel the evidence of _that_ pressed against her ass and she couldn't resist the urge to wriggle, pushing back against him and relishing in the sound of his groan in her ear.

"Is Nessie asleep?" Her tone was injected with innocence even as she turned in his arms to face him, rubbing her body against his as she moved. He nodded against her skin and pressed his lips to her neck, taking his time at the pulse point on her throat before moving north to grab her earlobe between his teeth and then it was Leah's groan that broke the silence. "Cheater." She'd been fully prepared to tease him a little longer; to drag out the inevitable, but he knew all her weak spots by now and he wasn't afraid to push her buttons.

She pushed herself closer to him, running one hand across his back and up into his hair. It was long enough, just, to grab onto and she took advantage- moving his head so she could find his lips with her own and kiss him, languid and wet and just the right side of spine-tingling. She was on her back before she knew he'd moved them; his weight on top of her solid but not crushing as he propped himself up with one elbow and kissed her back. His other hand was roaming, running under her tee to trace the skin on her chest before moving south to tear off her underwear- he ripped it, of course, as he always did, and she rolled her eyes. _This_ was why there was a 'naked-in-bed' rule: because it saved her clothing from over-exuberant displays of affection. But then his thumb pressed onto her clit and she trembled a little and forgot all about her underwear, moving her own hands to push down his boxers and twisting under him, using her body to leverage them up and then she was on top, grinning into their kiss.

As _if_ Leah Clearwater would let any man get the best of her, anywhere, least of all in _bed_.

He was hot and hard in her hand as she stroked, feeling him tremble under her even as his fingers worked inside her and made her hot and wet and _ready_. It wasn't long before she pushed his hand away and sank down onto his length, with a hiss of satisfaction and a grin. The look on his face spoke of adoration, with just a tinge of awe. She'd never get tired of seeing that. Slowly, _so slowly_, she started to move, rolling her hips to get that slack-jawed response that Jake always offered and she wasn't disappointed; he closed his eyes and moaned. They usually tried to be quiet but it felt like an age since she'd had him inside her- even though it had been only a few days.

It took her a few tries to find her rhythm, moving slowly upward until his cock was almost entirely out of her and then thrusting down hard and fast; she loved the sound of skin on skin and the way he hissed every time. His hands snaked upward, one grasping her hip with a tight grip and the other reaching her breast and squeezing hard, almost painfully, and it was her turn to moan; a throaty porn-star moan and she was nearly there, climbing to the dizzy heights of a spectacular orgasm without much effort. Inside her, he swelled further; hardened more, and she knew he must be close too- she knew him, inside of her, as well as she knew herself almost. His eyes opened to meet her gaze in the dark and she thrust down hard on him again just as he pinched her nipple and she shattered; falling to pieces around him on a wave of pure lust and love and everything was good in the world. He was still hard inside her, too, and grinning like an idiot.

"My turn." He growled and she had a moment of wondering what he had planned before he twisted and turned them so that he was on top and her leg was thrown back over his shoulder. He pinched her again- her left breast, far more sensitive than her right, for whatever reason, and he knew it too- and began to pound into her at a pace that made her forget her own name. She was so sensitive, still, and he knew just how to wind her up again and it didn't take long to get her back on track for number two and oh, she was looking forward to it.

And then Nessie knocked on their door and Leah bit back a growl of complete frustration and Jake had to smother a laugh.

"What is it, Ness?" He called, coming to a halt above Leah, mid-thrust. He could only hope that she wasn't afraid of the dark, or the strange house, or whatever it was that made kids homesick in strange places.

Under _no_ circumstances was Nessie getting into that bed with them- the ghost of her imprint had been between them for long enough; they didn't need her _actually_ there.

"One of your wolves is outside." She sounded almost frightened, though Jake had assured her that none of the boys would touch her. But it had been a long time since the girl had been in La Push and her memories of the Pack weren't all happy and carefree, anyway. Leah actually growled then and snaked her way out from under Jake. She leapt out of the bed, pulling on a dirty, wrinkled tee and a pair of shorts that barely covered her ass. Her _bare_ ass, but right then she didn't care. Whichever one of her boys was visiting them at four am in the morning _just_ as she was about to get some was going to find themselves in serious trouble. _And_ they totally deserved to have to smell the lust that was pouring off their Alphas. Inconsiderate jerks.

Jake followed her- the clothes he had been wearing were still warm and that just annoyed him- but took a minute to compose himself before emerging from the bedroom. Leah had let Colin inside and he looked miserable- at least he had clothes on, though, because sending Nessie back to her parents with tales of naked teenagers was not on his to-do list.

"What's going on?" Leah hadn't started swearing and hitting things, so it must be important enough.

"Tim was out by the Cullen place on my way home, like you said. There's been someone inside the house. A Vampire."

That warranted a late night call, Jake supposed, and was enough kill off the last vestiges of lust coursing through his blood. Leah, too, suddenly smelled alert and aware and not at all like she had ten minutes earlier.

"One of the Cullens?" Maybe Edward _had_ missed his flight? Colin shook his head, eyes flicking to the girl perched on the couch.

"Tim couldn't tell. He doesn't know their scents well enough and the rain has mostly washed it out." Jake and Leah nodded in unison and shared a glance, Leah quirking one eyebrow in question and Jake shrugging in response. "I'll go over there. Wake everyone, just in case." Leah didn't protest so he waved over his shoulder and disappeared into the night, Colin at his heels. From inside, she caught a scant flash of fur as they phased. She was dialing Paul's number even as she closed the front door, waking him from a restful sleep and instructing him to wake the others, too. _She_ had a half-vampire child to settle.

"You want some tea, kiddo? It helps me sleep, sometimes." And it gave her something to do with her hands. Nessie stared, slightly wary.

"Aunt Leah, are you not concerned? There could be Vampires in Forks." _Aunt_ _Leah._ God, they were practically related, weren't they? Leah usually did her best to forget that. And the child still sounded way too old for her age- though at least now she looked almost old enough to be thinking about this stuff.

"There have been Vampires in Forks for years, sweetness." Leah laughed. "Don't worry- Colin said _one_ scent, right? Three on one, Wolf to Vamp, is no contest." And if the child was worried about the Vampire, she was smart enough to keep that concern to herself. Leah decided not to ask.

Seth emerged from his bedroom, bleary eyed, and followed his sister into the kitchen, collapsing onto one of the chairs and letting his head fall onto the table. Leah set a steaming mug of sweet tea next to his head moments later and he woke up, a little, to grab onto it. Nessie sat delicately on the other side of the table, her eyes wide and curious as she took her first sip. Leah made a mental note to introduce the child into lots of other human things while she stayed with them- the Cullens might not think to expose the girl to regular human stuff and Leah was kinda pleased to have the chance to corrupt the child.

"Seth, can you watch Ness? I'm gonna phase so we know what's happening." He nodded once, blinking tiredly and Leah returned to her bedroom, where she could strip and phase without traumatizing her brother. In seconds, she was a wolf and in her mind, she was with Jake as he thundered through the forest. In reality, she curled up in the centre of their bed and kept her eyes and ears trained on the kitchen. Jo was awake, she could tell, and pacing in the guest room- Leah had forgotten all about the girl but she was glad that the child had the sense to stay in her room. Nessie had been told that Tony's imprint was staying with them, but no-one knew if the half-Vampire would be able to scent _Crow_ as she did _Wolf._ The Cullens had never noticed before but Leah had always thought it was because the dog-stink had covered up anything else. She could only hope that the same would be true, now. Besides, it would completely be Diana's fault if they were discovered- she sent the kids here, after all, risking exposure or whatever.

In her head, Jake laughed, imagining the look on Diana's face if they told her that the Crow shifters had been revealed to the Cold Ones.

_She'd kick your ass._ Leah offered, joining in his laugh. Colin and Tim ignored them, concentrating on their job at hand- Colin was having a tough time keeping up with Jake and Tim was freaking out about being alone so close to an un-known Vampire. Leah hoped their levity and humour would tone down some of that tension, especially before anyone else phased and joined in- emotions ran high in the Pack and they escalated quickly, too.

Jake must have noticed too because he immediately started a running commentary on his trek through the forest, channeling the hyperactive teenager that he had been before ever phasing.

_Does anyone else sometimes wish that La Push was built in a giant dome? Not a dome like the Stephen King one but, like, an umbrella or something, because I am getting seriously rained on here and I know, I know, its been raining on the peninsula since the dawn of time or whatever, but isn't there a whole global warming thing going on? Shouldn't the weather be drying out? I swear its rained more here in the last two years than it ever did when I was a kid. Oh. My. God. I just made a 'when I was a kid' comment. I'm officially ancient. _My dad_ used to say that shit! Of course, his stories were all about how Quileutes couldn't get jobs, back in the day, and how the White man used to say we were all lazy and shit but you know, sometimes I reckon that they must still think that about most of us because all of the Pack are, like, only working shitty part-time jobs so from the outside I can totally see why people would think we're lazy. I mean, obviously we're not but it's not like I can say 'Hey, Gordon, I can't work six days a week because Vampires are real and I fight them'. Of I could but then instead of thinking that I'm a slacker, he'll think I'm nuts and I'm not sure that's an improvement._

He kept it up; relating stories from his week at work and stuff Billy used to say, pausing only to welcome Embry, Jared and Sam when they phased in, and gradually the nervousness eased and the others began to join in, laughing and telling stories and relaxing into that feeling of _joy_ that Jake could just throw out there whenever he wanted. Leah thought she was the only one who really knew what Jake was doing, or maybe she was the only one aware that he was doing it on purpose.

He slowed his speech and his run at the same time, coming close to the Cullen manor and seeking out Tim's hiding place in the undergrowth. Tim was as eager as a puppy to see his Alpha approach, rolling onto his back and wagging his tail in a purely lupine expression of trust that none of the others would ever mock him for. They could feel that sudden surge of safety from the boy that meant he was _safe_ and _protected_ and that his Alpha was close by. Even Leah bit her tongue on that one, ignoring all the jokes and caustic comments that she could have let fly- she'd felt that emotion before, both aimed at her and herself, considering Jake. It wasn't fair to mock. Well. Not right then, anyway.

Jake issued instructions quickly before phasing to human again. His wolf form would be useless in a house with tiled floors and door handles. The Pack- only missing Seth by the time Jake reached the house- all watched through Tim's eyes as Jake sauntered up to the Cullen house, right up to the glass doors at the back of the house. Colin was watching from the front of the house, just in case, though there didn't seem to be any signs of life inside. Hah. Life.

Jake opened the door quietly- proof that there was definitely someone around was that the door was open at all. Esme made sure that every door and window was locked before she ever left the house empty.

Tension in the Pack ratcheted up a notch when they lost sight of Jake inside but he was thoughtful enough to leave the door propped open so that Tim could get to him in seconds if he needed it. Moments later, the front door opened too and Colin saw Jake inside, propping the door open. The Pack relaxed another fraction, relieved that they could get to him. Colin crept forward a few metres and kept his gaze on the house.

* * *

Jake, for his part, could scent the Vampire the second he opened the door. It hadn't been back for long, but the scent was strong. Familiar too, but… different in a way that he couldn't quantify. He hadn't spent enough of his time scenting Vampires to know what the difference was, but it was enough to make him wary. On the plus side, it definitely wasn't a half-Vampire, so that was nice.

He propped the doors open for the boys, just in case, and made his way up the stairs, turning on the lights as he moved. He wasn't blind in the dark; not by half, but having the lights on would keep the Pack from panicking and that was really his priority.

He followed scent and damp footprints down the upstairs corridor and through a wide-open door to a room covered wall-to-ceiling in posters and prints; sport and music, matched with stunning scenery and photographs of parts of the world Jake would only ever dream of seeing. He didn't need to flip the light-switch to see the Vampire but he did. For such a large figure, Emmett could make himself appear deceptively small, squeezed into a remarkably small space between wardrobe and wall, his arms wrapped around his knees and his head curled into his chest.

"Emmett?" _Where was Rose?_ _What was he doing here? What was that _stink? The Vampire didn't respond; didn't even acknowledge that Jake was there and the Quileute found that especially strange. Emmett had always been friendly to him. He'd gone out of his way, in fact, to be good to the Pack and in return, they'd respected him. They'd mourned together, in the past, more than once. He'd made mistakes; he was bound by blood and death to Leah and Jared. And out of all the Cullens, Jake _liked_ Emmett best. "Emmett, can you hear me?" He'd never heard of a Vampire going deaf but anything was possible. Carefully, Jake moved forward and sank to his knees in front of the other man. Well, man might not be the right word but it didn't apply to either of them equally. Emmett didn't move and didn't react and Jake reached out to take his hand, hoping to just grab his attention; get him to talk. There was no-one else in the house, of that he was certain, but that was more worrying that anything else- where the hell was Rosalie?

Emmett's hand was ice-cold beneath his fingers and, for a beat, Jake wondered if the Vampire was frozen in place; unable to move.

That question was answered when the Vampire surged forward, knocking Jake's hand out of the way and pushing the shape-shifter to the ground as he moved out of the corner and into the centre of the room. Jake was on his feet instantly, on alert and more concerned than ever. He wasn't hurt, but his heart was beating faster than normal and he could feel adrenaline surging in his veins.

"Emmett, you have to talk to me." Emmett's back was to Jake, his shoulders hunched forward. Slowly, Jake made his way around the room, keeping a careful distance this time, until he was facing his friend. Emmett's gaze was on the floor and he was trembling a little. Jake couldn't recall ever seeing any of the Cullens shiver.

"I killed her." If he'd been human, Jake wouldn't have heard the words. But he wasn't completely human and he _did_ hear them and he swore his heart stopped beating in his chest for just a second. "I killed her." Emmett sounded so heartbroken that there was no doubt in his mind _who_ he was talking about.

"Tell me what happened, Em." He refused to believe that Emmett would actually have killed Rosalie. Those two loved each other a sickening amount- they were worse than Bella and Edward, for God's sake.

"I didn't do what they wanted and she died." Heartbroken; lonely and terrified. "I got her killed." Jake pushed down his own surge of fear at the '_they_'.

"Who are you talking about Emmett? Where are they?" It was insensitive and Jake would kick himself for it later but right then, he needed to _know_. If Emmett had been followed then he needed to get everyone to _move_.

"I don't know. I… I got away. They killed her and I killed some of them, I think, and then I ran." Looking closer, Jake could see that his clothes were tattered and dirty and he was barefoot. He looked like he'd been running with the wolves, almost. "Will you kill me, Jake? I can't… I can't live like this." And whatever shock Jake thought he'd had with those words was trebled when Emmett looked up at him.

The blood-red eyes staring back at him were out of place in Emmett's face. Jake startled, taking a step backward and just managing to stop himself before he growled.

"What the hell? Emmett- what happened?" This time, his words were a demand and not a question and Emmett responded as if he were one of the Pack, words spilling out and his hands flying in gestures that seemed to be an effort to keep himself from freezing up again; frenetic and desperate and Jake knew that if Vampires could cry, Emmett would be.

When the words ran out and Emmett stilled, Jake moved forward into the Vampire's personal space (far too close for his own liking to any Vampire, not least one with red eyes), grabbed him by one shoulder and pulled him into a hug, muttering apologies and condolences under his breath.

Rosalie was dead.

The Volturi had killed her.

They'd be coming for Emmett, Jake was certain. He could feel it in his blood.

* * *

He stayed with Emmett for fifteen minutes, wishing all the while that it was possible for Vampires to sleep. Instead, he barely convinced Emmett to get into the shower and clean off, man-handling the Vampire in a way that he doubted anyone had ever had to before. When he was sure that Emmett was actually going to wash himself and not just linger in the bathroom staring at tiles, he retreated down the stairs. Unsurprisingly, Colin was waiting just outside the front door, staring at him with curious eyes.

The entire Pack was waiting; watching their Alpha- somehow, Jake could see that; see them in Colin as the wolf watched him.

"Emmett's upstairs." He barely recognized his own voice. "What I'm about to say _must not_ get back to Nessie- tell her that there was no Vampire; that we were wrong." Colin's large wolf head nodded slowly and Jake sighed, relieved. "The Volturi killed Rosalie and tortured Emmett. He escaped but…" Jake glanced back up the stairs even as he heard the first howls starting across the reservation. Rosalie had hunted with them; she'd been part of the Pack for a time. Her loss was… unexpected; a shock. "They'll be coming for him. I want everyone on alert- Sam, get Emily over to Rachel's house. Leah, call your mom and get the Crows into the air- they'll be safer up there than on the ground." He couldn't meet Colin's eyes again- he didn't want to see what he knew he'd see there. Fear. Anger. Grief.

"We need… fuck, I don't know what we need. Embry, I need you to leave Spokane- I don't want you on your own. Head for Billings; the Crows can take care of you there. I'll call Carlisle but I won't be back to the Rez anytime soon. Emmett needs someone to stay with him until his family get here."

Outside, the wind was howling and Jake could hear the rain pouring down still but there was a growing light on the horizon. It would be day, soon.

Colin stayed with him. He knew without asking that Leah had told the boy to stay with him. The boy sat watching the forest from his perch inside the front door while Jake contemplated the portable phone. He'd never had to make a call like this before. He'd never had to tell anyone that their family was dead, not even when his own dad had died. He stalled twice before finally making the call. Carlisle's cell phone number was pre-programmed, thankfully, because he didn't have any of their numbers memorized. Alice answered after three rings, sounding almost cheerful.

"Rose?" Her voice was so filled with hope that Jake almost choked.

"No, Alice. It's, uh, Jacob."

"Jake? What are you doing at the house? Oh god- is it Nessie? Is she okay? What happened?" Through the phone, Jacob could hear panicked voices.

"Ness is fine, Alice. Where are you at the moment?" With word that Nessie was fine, Alice calmed.

"We're in the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton in Cancun- this is where Rose and Emmett were last, we think. Their things are still here and they have the room booked up to the end of the month." He counted the voices in the background carefully. They all seemed to be there, except Edward-he must still be on his way.

"Alice. You might want to sit down." His voice betrayed him.

"Tell me."

"Emmett came back here tonight. He was alone. I'm sorry Alice… the Volturi killed Rosalie." She didn't say anything. All Jake could hear was a cracking sound and then the dial tone as the call disconnected. He thought she'd probably broken the cell.

Seconds later, another number dialed back and Jake steeled himself again; once was bad enough. He was selfish enough to hope that they had all heard him say the words and that he wouldn't have to repeat them.

"Hello?" This time it was Carlisle.

"Jacob? Can I speak to my son?" Emmett was still in the shower. Or the water was still running, at least.

"He's not really himself at the moment, doc. I sent him to clean up and get changed. He ran all the way here." _To get us to kill him._ Jake was sure they didn't need to know that, right now. "I'll stay with him until you can get here. I won't leave him alone." The doctor thanked him but his tone was wooden and Jake was sure he didn't even know what he was saying.

"Do you know what happened?" For the benefit of the Pack, Jake moved closer to Colin. He only wanted to relate this once and he wasn't sure when he could phase next. At least this way, everyone would have all the details.

"They were caught separately. Jane, Alec and I don't know how many others caught him outside their hotel. They used him as bait for Rosalie and then used Rosalie against Emmett." He paused, taking a deep breath. "They held him down and forced him to drink from a human as Rosalie watched. Then they killed her. He says he escaped but I think they probably let him get away." Upstairs, the shower turned off and he could hear Emmett move from the bathroom and back to his bedroom. Hopefully, he'd get dressed and not retreat to the corner again. "He blames himself, Carlisle. He's not doing too well." Understatement of the century, but then Carlisle wasn't doing too well either.

"We'll be there as soon as possible." A sure sign of how upset the doc was- he didn't say goodbye. Jake replaced the handset and met Colin's gaze, watching carefully for any sign that the Pack was disgusted with Emmett, or frightened of him. They all knew why his scent was different, now.

But all he saw reflected in Colin's gaze was his own pity.

* * *

A/N: Don't hurt me. :)


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Yay, me.

A/N: Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing the last chapter- feedback is very much appreciated. :) I am sorry for the delay- I reached a point where I had a couple of decisions to make about where we're going and that took longer than expected. Onwards! :)

* * *

Seth and Quil met the Cullens at the airport. The family had reunited with Edward somewhere and chartered a plane to take them home as quickly as possible. Neither of the Quileutes knew what to say but they offered condolences in soft voices and led the Vampires to their cars. Jake had given them the keys to two of the Cullen vehicles- two SUVs that Rosalie had kept in perfect condition. Maybe they should have taken a chance on the rabbit, instead, if it had kept _that_ heartbroken look off Alice's face when she saw them.

Seth, normally boisterous, was quiet. He offered words to Edward and Bella about Nessie, reassuring them that she was fine; upset, but fine, and after that said very little. Bella managed a small smile in return but Edward's gaze was on something that Seth couldn't see- some memory or thought that had distracted him completely. Seth wondered whose it was but suspected it was probably his own. When Harry Clearwater died, Seth had spent a lot of days just staring at things no-one else could see and remembering things he hadn't even known he'd known.

He could imagine that having so many years of memories to go through must make things harder.

The Cullens split between the two vehicles without debate- Bella, Edward and Esme to one and Jasper, Alice and Carlisle to the other- and there was a brief moment of debate over who would drive.

"You don't need to babysit us, Seth. I can drive just fine." Edward glared and for a second Seth thought about backing down.

"It's not you I'm worried about, Edward. It's the people in the car you crash into because you're distracted." Jake had told him to drive them up and drive them home. It was non-negotiable. Edward made a face, as if he didn't believe what Seth was saying, but he got into the backseat of the car regardless. Bella climbed in next to him, nothing in her Vampire grace revealing the clumsy human girl she used to be.

If Jake's return the day previous had been awkward, this journey was hellish. Seth, at least, was friendly with Edward and Bella and Esme was a sweetheart to everyone. Quil didn't know any of the Cullens well and while the doctor was amiable, Alice complained all the way home that his scent was distracting her; he was interrupting her sight; he was driving too slowly. Quil was ready to leave her behind before they even left the city limits- only Jasper's occasional interruptions saved Alice from having to walk home. The Vampire could sense his emotions; the roiling distrust and annoyance under his skin that would turn to anger if the Vampire girl couldn't control herself for a few hours.

He mostly drove in silence. The radio was tuned to a local station and they heard the local news on the hour, every half hour, until Quil thought he could recite it by heart. There's nothing quite like being in a car filled with grieving Vampires to make a wolf focus on something else. _Anything _else. Jake was going to owe him, big time.

They made good time and arrived back to the Cullens house just as the sun was rising, just over a day since the Pack had found Emmett. The Vampires were slow to go into the house; reluctant, maybe. He could understand why Jasper and Edward would be so reluctant- the closer they got to Emmett the worse it would get for them but he was their brother so they'd have to suck it up. Jake met them at the door and greeted Carlisle with a handshake and his condolences before offering Esme a hug in sympathy. Quil shuddered, a little, at the thought of hugging one of the leeches but he'd seen enough of Jake with Emmett to know that his Alpha had a far greater tolerance for the Vampires than any of the rest of the Pack. It made sense, of course, because he'd spent so much time with them before but the Pack liked to pretend that Jake had never imprinted on Ness. It was just easier that way.

"He's in the living room." They stalled, reluctant to face their new reality. Jake could relate but all the same, Emmett needed one of them to suck it up and go to him. If you'd asked him beforehand, Jake would have expected Carlisle or Esme to be the grown-ups in the situation; to recognise that Emmett was more important- in that moment- than their own grief. But Esme was wrapped in Carlisle's arms and he was muttering to her softly and Jake realized that maybe Esme was remembering the last time she'd lost a child, too.

Alice was the one who went to him. She pushed Edward out of her way- quite roughly, too- and disappeared into the living room. Even knowing that Edward and Jasper must be suffering badly under the onslaught from Emmett, Jake was still disappointed in them, hiding on the other side of the wall as if their brother wouldn't know they were there. He didn't realize that he was growling at them until he registered the shock on Edward's face. Jasper, by contrast, looked abashed. He met Jake's gaze with an apology in his eyes and followed his wife.

"Bella- could you put up a block, please?" Carlisle was knocked from his own circle of grief by the Wolf's growl and it was enough to get him back on track and in charge of his family.

* * *

Jake was out the front door, phased and in the forest, before Bella could follow through. He needed to get out of there, needed to get away for a while and _run_ and be with his Pack. He'd missed a day of work, he'd missed everything with Charlotte and Sue; he'd been with Emmett when Sam and Jo reconciled. Apparently, the thought that Vampires might be coming to kill them all was enough to make them think twice about hating each other. He sank into the Pack mind, running with Seth to one side and Quil the other and let their thoughts wash away the pain and hurt that he had been sharing with Emmett. In return he showed them what little he had gleaned from Emmett- kidnapped and tormented into feeding by the Volturi.

They'd promised him that they'd let Rosalie go if he joined them. Someone should have told him that _Vampires are the bad guys._ The bad guys _lie_. Instead of letting her go, they'd made him watch as they burned her and then dumped him out of the back of a transport van somewhere in the mid-west. He'd run all the way to Forks in some half-crazed frenzy, only wanting to die and be _finished_ and have everything be over.

Jake had been pretty sure that his Dad's death was the saddest thing he'd ever live through but seeing Emmett that broken had changed his mind. That was the image that the Pack saw: Emmett, curled into the corner, eyes vacant and his face expressionless. Unmoving, he looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut; collapsed onto itself with no life to hold it up and keep it moving. Jake wasn't the only one who thought the image was heartbreakingly sad but the guys could tell that he didn't want to dwell on it, so they focused on the past twenty-four hours instead and filled his mind with the Pack and life and attempts at cheer and good humour.

Embry phased in after about ten minutes and the mood immediately lifted a little more- he was free to run for the first time in months and even the sadness of the past day couldn't get him down. Jared ran with him, on Crow land, hundreds of miles away and right beside them all the same. Jake let the Pack mind filter the horror and kept his own terror clamped down tight- the vein of tension that underlay everything was manageable. They were all out, running, every single Pack member. The Crows were flying overhead, somewhere- even Charlotte, apparently, covering the miles in a way that the Pack couldn't, with a literal birds-eye view of the peninsula. They were phasing and checking in with Rachel every half-hour, careful to remain unseen; phasing only in heavy foliage and dark shadows. It was exhausting and terrifying and everyone was jumping at shadows but Jake was relieved to see that they were so focused. He'd spent a day in human form, trying to keep Emmett coherent until the Cullen's arrived, and he'd felt the absence of the Pack keenly.

He took forty minutes to bask in the Pack and let their voices clear out the pain and badness before diving back into Alpha mode. The Cullens were in no position to plan- they'd have to handle this themselves.

He met Paul and Charlotte back at the Black house, leaving Leah to run the patrols. The Pack were running in three patrol circuits- one tight circle around the Reservation and two wider circles around the Reservation borders, one intersecting with the Cullen home and land and the second circling Forks town. Their job might be to protect the Rez but none of them would ever forgive themselves if people in Forks died and they hadn't at least tried to protect them, too. Covering so much ground wasn't feasible, long-term; they simply didn't have the numbers. Charlotte though… Charlotte could get them the numbers but it would be at the risk of leaving the Crow's home unprotected and that was far from acceptable, either.

Defending multiple borders against a coven who wanted nothing more than to make them _hurt_ was a prospect that none of the wolves were prepared for. How do you even prepare for something like that? Jake couldn't help but wonder if it was easier to fight when there was nothing to lose. With everything to lose, he was knotted with fear already and they weren't even sure what was happening.

Charlotte wasn't quite what he'd been expecting, either. Diana had reminded him strongly of Sue- older, sure, but commanding and powerful in a way that had nothing to do with physical power and everything to do with sheer force of will. Somehow, he'd decided that Charlotte would be similar, in some way, to those women but… she wasn't. Not really. She was tiny, to start- barely 5' 2" and as skinny as a rail. Jo was a small girl but she had already outgrown her mother. So she was small and her _voice_ was small, quiet and hesitant, almost, and when he'd been expecting someone drastically different, he couldn't help but be thrown off-course. He'd been ready to fight but… he couldn't fight with this tiny, unassuming woman, could he? She was too gentle, or something. It was unsettling.

When he stepped into the living room, she was seated next to Rachel on the sofa and Paul was standing by the front door, ostensibly keeping watch but really playing a convoluted game of peek-a-boo with Will.

"Charlotte, this is Jacob. Jake, this is Jo's mother Charlotte." Rachel seemed huge, suddenly, seated next to this Crow- and Rachel hadn't looked huge to Jake since he'd been three years old. But then she turned her attention to him and he could see it- the razor sharp intelligence lurking behind her eyes and he found himself suddenly shy of his bare chest and dirty feet.

"It's a pleasure, I'm sure." He forced down his sudden nerves and took a deep breath. "Jo's a good kid. She'll be a good addition to my Rez." He might as well throw the big stuff out there right away. "Unfortunately, we have bigger shit to worry about right now than your kid and my boy Tony and whatever other drama I've missed." As he spoke, the nerves faded a little and he noted the surprise that flittered across her face. Arrogance and entitlement had thrown Diana off course when they'd first met so perhaps it would work again? Certainly, her friend should have told her to expect that- he was the Alpha wolf, for God's sake. _Of_ _course_ he was arrogant.

"I understand. Our discussion will have to be another time. For now, I'm happy to have Jo here as part of the Crow contingent dealing with the current threat." He nodded briefly and dismissed her, turning to Rachel.

"How's the shrimp?" Will was comfortable in his father's arms but Jake couldn't forget that the boy had been ill the last time he'd seen him. Rachel grinned, just a little.

"He's fine. He slept it off." Good. One less thing to worry about.

"And Ness?" Last he'd heard, the little girl had been stashed with Rachel and Paul.

"Emily is bringing her to the Cullens- I thought Bella and Edward would appreciate seeing her. She promised to bring her back here later if they didn't want her around Emmett." Sam wouldn't be thrilled with that development but Jake wasn't going to complain- if the half-vampire was gone, it gave them time to talk without worrying about what would get back to the rest of the Cullens.

"Good. The Cullens are freaking the fuck out; maybe if Ness is there they'll have something else to focus on." He had crossed the room to peer over Paul's shoulder at Will, ruffling the boy's hair with one hand and Paul's with the other- and he didn't move fast enough to miss the smack that Paul landed on his shoulder for that move. Will laughed, delighted, and for one moment all the adults in the room smiled. One last moment of levity before the shitstorm hit, no doubt.

"Are we going to address the matter or are you happy to keep playing with the baby?" He'd thought she was harmless? Her tone could melt steel and Jake bristled. He didn't get the chance to snap back; Rachel leapt to his defence.

"He's spent the last twenty two hours dealing with a grief stricken Vampire. We can give him two minutes to dote on my son." For some reason, he'd thought that because they were sitting together that it meant they were getting along well- but the ice in Rachel's voice was enough to tell him that he was missing something. With one last glance at Will's happy smile, Jake turned back to the two women. Rachel was glaring but Charlotte's expression was more bored than anything else and Jake could suddenly see the similarity to Diana that he'd been expecting. Great.

"I thought we had already agreed that we had more important things to deal with?" _Bitch_.

"You're right." She had a point. _Bitch_. "Any news?" Charlotte, at least, was willing to act as liaison to the flocks, relaying search information. Unfortunately, there had been none so far.

"We have people checking flights in and out of the country, trying to narrow down how long they've been in the U.S. Our sheriff is searching through missing person's reports, looking for an increase in disappearances in the Midwest that we can use to narrow the area. So far, we have nothing substantial, but we're working on it." She was completely collected; totally at ease. Jake couldn't help but wonder if all the things he'd liked about Jo were inherited from Joshua Uley- something that should be a frightening thought, given that the man was such a douche.

"Thank you. Is there any chance of getting a few more of your people out here? We can't keep up these patrols- the boys are already exhausted." They could really use the back-up. She pursed her lips, considering.

"There might be a few people we can call in but… it's unlikely. Diana has issued orders that all flocks are to stay together until further notice." She paused, meeting his eyes. He felt as though she was taking stock of him; weighing him up. It was weird and uncomfortable but he managed to stop himself from fidgeting. Mostly. "What has Diana told you about what we do?"

Honestly? Sweet fuck all. He said as much and she made a face. Rachel, beside her, suddenly looked curious and Jake glared at her before she could start asking questions. He didn't give a flying fuck what the Crows did in their spare time.

"Has she told you about the others?" Others? There were _others_? Other what?

"What others?" Answer enough, in and of itself.

"Other shape-shifters. We're not the only ones, our two. For every legend, there's a grain of truth and we keep watch over it all. The Crows were given the job of watching and remembering and that's what we do." It shouldn't have come as a surprise but it really, really did.

"How many?" Had his father known? Old Quil and Sue certainly hadn't, but that didn't mean Billy had been as ignorant.

"Sixteen tribes. The numbers vary but… no more than twelve hundred, including the Crows."

"Will they help?" God, but they needed help. He just couldn't be sure he'd be able to keep that big a secret from the Cullens.

"Probably not." What the fuck was the point in telling him, then? "Most of the others think that your tribe has brought this on yourselves by allying yourselves with the Cold Ones." Jake took a deep breath and closed his eyes, refusing to let his bubbling rage spill over.

"Well, that's just great but how does it help us right now?" With Will tucked under his arm, Paul turned his attention to the conversation, allowing Jake a second or two to gather his thoughts.

"They won't come here but if there are problems outside of Washington State we may be able to get some help. They may demand something in return."

"What do we need to do?" There was something in this that he couldn't see; something that Charlotte was angling for that he didn't understand. The shock was wearing off and the anger was settling in. In almost two years, Diana hadn't said a word that had even hinted at there being other shifters out there. Jake had freaked out to her about needing safe places to send the boys to college and she had what? Just not seen the chance to tell him about more than a dozen other tribes out there that could do the same trick?

And now he needed them and the fucking Crows had him over a barrel. Goddammit. He resisted the urge to curse and throw things. At Charlotte. Preferably her head.

"We need an isolated territory to rehabilitate damaged shifters. If you want help, you're going to offer La Push." What the hell did she mean, _damaged_ shifters? The Quileute wolves could heal anything short of decapitation with enough time, food and rest and he knew that the Crows were pretty much the same. Rachel asked the question for him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I mean crazy, mostly. Trapped in a shift, maybe, or shifters who have seen terrible things and can't handle it anymore. We need somewhere safe for them to go."

Jake wished Leah was there. She'd know what to do or what to say and Jake didn't have a clue. He had no idea how to make the best of this. He certainly couldn't afford to feed more freaking shifters. But what choice did he have?

"I want you to know that I hate this; I really do. I think it's disgusting that you're blackmailing me into this, but you know and I know that I have no other choice." Every ounce of Alpha in him was in his tone. "If any tribe helps us in this, then they can send their _damaged_ shifters here but, and this is not negotiable, once they get here, they're _mine_." She met his glare with an even gaze and that infuriated him more, somehow.

"Deal. I'll make the calls." She stood up, all five foot nothing of her and made her way into the spare bedroom. Seconds later, he could hear her talking to Diana and he couldn't hold back a growl.

Fuck. He _hated_ Crows.

Tricky, sneaky fuckers.

* * *

Leah could tell that whatever was going on in the Black house was not going particularly well. There was an itch at the back of her neck that meant that Jake was furious and she had no idea why- he'd been fine, sad but fine, before going inside and she'd met Charlotte. The Crow was annoying, sure, but she wasn't half as bad as Marianne. She'd thought, anyway, but Jake was so angry… something must have happened. It was unusual enough that she was distracted, paying attention to Jake through their bond and trying to figure out what was going on instead of what the boys were relating from their patrols. That's why she missed it, at first, when Colin began following a rental car along the road into La Push. There were rarely visitors to La Push- not tourists, at any rate, and anyone who did take the road to the Rez didn't normally drive a rental car so new that there were still stickers on the tyres.

But she noticed when the car pulled up outside the Black house. Through Colin's eyes, they watched as a wiry blond guy stepped out of the car and made his way to the door. Colin scented sand and sea from the stranger but he was neither shifter nor Vampire- a regular human visitor. For a moment, Leah wondered if Becca had a date, or something, that she'd forgotten to cancel but she dismissed the idea. The guy was as far from Becca's type as you could get- tall, skinny and blond. Not Becks _at all_.

_Watch him_. She instructed, turning her own attention back to her patrol. The night was darkening rapidly and there was no moonlight to guide her- she needed to focus because one misstep would lead her to crashing off a cliff edge and that was worlds of no fun. Whoever it was, Rachel and Jake could handle it. Probably some yuppie college kid doing an article for the newspaper about the plight of the redskin, or something- Jake got, like, three of those a month at least.

Five minutes later, she was completely unprepared for the wave of fury and grief that took her feet from under her and sent her stumbling toward the cliffs edge.

* * *

Several days earlier:

The doorway opened a crack and light spilled into the room and Rosalie winced; her eyes sensitive to light after so long in the dark. The smell that crept in was overwhelming and she was so _thirsty._ She'd never been so thirsty before; never been so desperate to feed. She forced her eyes away from the light and gritted her teeth- she wouldn't do it and they couldn't force her. They couldn't _make_ her drink, even though that scent was so delicious; coppery and warm and so strong that she could almost taste it already.

The Vampire in the doorway laughed at her as she pressed herself into the wall- he could surely scent the blood in her mouth as she bit at the inside of her cheek to stop herself from lunging at him. Or, not at him exactly- at the teenage boy he held by the neck, a single line of blood escaping the boy's nose. It was enough to drive her insane, given time.

She hadn't fed in weeks. And she hadn't fed from a human in decades. That scent was so _maddening_. She pushed her nails into the palms of her hands to distract herself as the Vampire laughed again, shaking the child in her direction and muttering something in a language that she didn't understand. They brought her a different offering every day; trying to find her weak spot- boys; girls; pretty; tall; curvy; loud. They were trying, hard, and she couldn't (_wouldn't_) give in to it. Not today, anyway. She heard the crack as the boy's neck snapped; heard it the second that his heart stopped beating and he stopped breathing and her own heart broke in her chest.

That made thirteen; thirteen people they'd offered her and she'd rejected and they'd killed them anyway. No mercy. No quarter given. Thirteen lives ended in a waste of life and potential that Rose could barely understand. Where the hell was Alice? She should have found her by now. She should have been able to track her and what Alice couldn't find, surely Edward could? Surely they were looking? They had to find her soon; she didn't know how much longer she could hold out and Rosalie had promised herself, a long time ago, that she would never take another life. She didn't want to return to her family with the red eyes of a monster.

Deep down, so far down she didn't even realize it; Rosalie was certain that was exactly what was going to happen. She couldn't face Emmett again with red eyes and innocent blood on her hands. She _wouldn't. _She'd die first. She just had to figure out a way of getting them to kill _her_ and not the children. The heavy door swung shut again, leaving her in total darkness. The first day here, she'd known that she had to be underground- the walls were rock and dirt, not cement and the only weak point to her cell was the door. And even the door was not a true weak point- reinforced steel that even Vampire strength could not break through and she grew weaker every day. Whatever chance she may have had of breaking it down had been lost. She'd tried to fight them; she'd launched herself at her jailers on the first day that door swung open but she'd been stopped in her tracks by their human shield. Part of her wished she'd kept going; ploughed through the helpless human and reached the Vampire captor behind. But she hadn't, and she hadn't done it on any of the days since, either.

Worse than the hunger, worse than the ache where the _lack_ of Emmett was apparent, worse than the humiliation of being _captured_- the thing that was preying on her mind for hours; driving her crazy at intervals, was knowing that they took her because she was the _weak_ one. She wasn't special like Alice or Bella; wasn't as strong as Emmett or as good a fighter as Jasper.

They wanted Carlisle and Edward, and they'd taken her to get to them and for that, Rosalie hated herself. She _hated_ herself. She was weak. She was the weak link in her family. She wouldn't let them use it against her- she wouldn't feed. She could do that. She could refuse them _that_. She might have been the weak link, but she'd die first.

It had become a mantra, a creed that she could live by. Edward and Carlisle had religion, but Rose had never connected with their God and his plans- she'd had a life that few would ever envy, for all her beauty. So she might not have God as a comfort, or any notion that she would move on to a better place- but she could hold fast to the belief that _she would die herself_ before adding more blood to the stain on her hands. She might have been the weak link, but she was better than that.

It worked for two, long, torturous weeks. It was enough for that long. She repeated the words over and over in the silence of her brain even as she hugged her knees to her chest and tried to force herself into sleep; into a coma; into death or escape or anything that would take her away from this place and this darkness and this hell that she was living.

On the fifteenth morning, things were different. On the fifteenth morning, the door swung open and instead of dangling the bait under her nose, they threw it in with her, still breathing. She'd been waiting for someone to realize that her resolve was not unending- she'd been waiting for them to realize that leaving someone in the room with her would be more effective than leaving her with her own thoughts. She could talk herself into anything when she was alone- living that resolve with temptation in the same room as her was different.

It never really occurred to her that the previous days had been a waiting game, breaking her spirit piece by piece until she was so starved of both food and company that any addition to her cell would be too much for her to handle.

They dumped her visitor onto the hard floor and scent of blood hit Rose like a wave; hunger and blood lust warring with innate stubbornness and… familiarity? She _knew_ that scent. She had been refusing to look; refusing to cast her eyes on the latest victim because seeing them just made it worse- the fear in their eyes and the light dying as their necks were snapped or their throats ripped out. But she opened her eyes now and looked and even in the near-darkness, she recognised the body on the ground.

Rebecca looked enough like Rachel that it took Rosalie a moment to realize which of the Black sisters were sharing her cell- but while their underlying scent was very similar, Rachel's was undeniable linked to _wolf_ and that meant that this was Becca.

Rose was almost proud of herself for realizing the difference in her less-than-coherent state but then Becca groaned in pain and her attention was focused completely on the human. At the door, whatever lackey the Volturi had sent to her this time, laughed and said something to her that she ignored. She'd stopped listening to them days before, not least because they usually spoke in Italian and Rose had never learned it. Everyone spoke English these days, anyway. The door slammed shut and the sound echoed uncomfortably. Rose's head ached enough already that the sound meant she winced. She hadn't _winced_ in decades. It was strange that being captive and powerless made her remember more clearly what it meant to be human.

The Vampire crawled across the room slowly, holding her breath against the powerful scent. The human was bleeding, but not heavily- that much, she could tell. She hadn't been bitten, either; there was no scent of venom.

"Becca?" She had to breathe to speak and the scent hit her full force once more and she shrank back a little. "It's Rosalie Cullen. Are you okay?" The other woman didn't answer. Rosalie could only assume that she wasn't conscious. She froze in place, considering her options. Becca wasn't like the others, not really. There was horror in the thought that she would ever kill another person again, but there was despair in the idea that she might hurt someone that she _knew_; someone whose family had saved her families lives. She'd never forgive herself for hurting _anyone_ but no-one else would ever forgive her for hurting _Becca_.

The Volturi knew it, too. If she killed Becca; if she fed from the girl and ended her life, then she could never go home. Not really.

She was gentle when she moved the girl, her hands shaking from fear and hunger. But she had no choice but to move her- drag her away from the doorway and put her own body between the Quileute and whatever Vampire came through the door next. The wound on the back of the woman's head was bleeding, not much, but enough. The area around it was swollen and tender and Rosalie was pretty certain that they'd hit her harder than they'd intended- Vampires not used to killing their prey weren't always familiar with how to knock someone out.

It took hours for Becca to wake and at first when she did, she wasn't coherent. Rosalie hadn't studied medicine, despite all her college degrees, but she'd watched Carlisle often enough to recognize a concussion when she saw one. Becca was asking for her husband- Ben, Rose knew, though she remembered little else about him- and her father. Occasionally, she called for Rachel or Jacob. Those were easier to deal with, but the thought of Billy Black made her cringe with guilt and she could only imagine what had been done to Ben.

He could have been any of the men that had been dangled in front of her in the last weeks and she wouldn't know. Maybe the Volturi expected her to know. Would she have done something differently if she had recognized him? Maybe. She'd like to think so but she'd never know, now.

After what felt like days but was probably only half a day, at most, Becca roused fully- coming back to herself and to reality with a suddenness that Rosalie found almost shocking.

"What the fuck?" Of course, the human couldn't see like Rosalie could, so she didn't even realize she wasn't alone. For one tiny moment, Rosalie thought about pretending not to be there; about staying quiet and returning to her corner to hide until the Volturi guards returned. It would be easier, no doubt, than to have to interact with her.

"Becca? Stay calm, okay? There's some bad shit happening but you're not alone and we'll figure this out, right?" Rosalie reminded herself that she was _not a coward_.

"_Bad shit?_" Her tone was incredulous. "Who are you? How do you know my name?" Oh, right. Introductions.

"Rosalie Hale." Would the _Vampire_ bit earn a freak out? "I know your family." The woman lived with a shapeshifter- surely Vampire wouldn't be much of a stretch.

"How?" Oh, right. _Hale_ wasn't nearly as useful a name to drop as _Cullen_. Get with the program, Rose. The hunger was clearly affecting her; she'd never been so easily distracted before. So sloppy.

"I'm part of Carlisle Cullen's coven. The vampires who have kidnapped us want me to eat you." Tact, thy name is not Rosalie. For almost a full minute the silence stretched between; if Rose hadn't had Vampire hearing she would have wondered if the human was unconscious again- but she wasn't, she was breathing a little faster and her heartbeat sped up, but she was conscious. Just… silent.

"Are you going to?"

"I hope not. But… I haven't fed in a long time and you've been bleeding." She paused and the silence reigned again. "I don't want to." That would have to do. She wasn't about to make any promises.

"Fine. Now, tell me where the hell we are and what I have to do to get the hell out of here." And there it was: the spine of steel that the Black siblings seemed to share- Rosalie couldn't have been happier to see it shine through. With Becca's words, something in Rosalie found a new resolve too.

_She would die first. _


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. But I do have a teeny, tiny box of cornflakes. Relevant? Not really, but it doesn't make me S. Meyer, either.

A/N: Apologies for any confusion caused by jumping between time-frames, but the Becca and Rosalie scenes are set a couple of days prior to the La Push scenes and _before_ Emmett's return to Forks.

* * *

_Two days previously:_

"We're not going to get out of this." Becca sounded so calm; so accepting. Rosalie could only hope that her own voice was as steady, but she didn't think she managed it.

"No. We're not." Not unless her family, or Becca's, actually managed to track them down, but Rose had lost that hope some days (she thought it was days) before. It seemed foolish to hope, now, when Becca was already weak from two days of no food or water and shaking from the cold. It left the girl listless and quiet and somehow made Rosalie feel even more alone.

"Okay then." In the darkness, Rosalie felt more than saw the girl turn to face her. "Will you tell my family that I love them and that I'm so sorry?" Rose didn't understand. The words didn't register immediately, because the thick, rich, beautiful scent of blood filled the air and venom drowned her mouth. And then Becca was there, right in front of her, offering her ripped wrist to Rose's mouth and Rose couldn't tell which of them had moved to make it possible. There was no scent of fear; no panic. No worry or pain. Her teeth itched and Becca pressed forward, pushing her wrist to Rose's mouth and it took everything that there was in Rose to stop herself from ripping the girl's arm open and feasting. "I'm not getting out of here, Rosalie, but I can give you a chance, right?" Desperate hope swam in Rose's heart and she nodded, even as her lips parted and Becca's blood pooled into her mouth, and the taste exploded on her tongue.

Becca was giving her a chance- at freedom; at revenge and Rosalie wouldn't waste a single drop. Her teeth descended, breaking skin, and Rose thanked a God she didn't believe in for Becca's bravery.

Hours later- was it hours, or minutes? It could have been days, maybe- the burning in her veins dragged Becca back to consciousness. Under her skin, her body was on fire; blood twisting and curling in her, her back arched and limbs grasping for purchase, every muscle clenched and tense and Becca had never felt this much pain before; this agony. She thought, for a second, that she was screaming- but the noise was coming from somewhere else because her own voice was trapped her throat. The screams were echoing in the dark room; rebounding and repeating until they sounded like three voices, or more.

She hadn't expected to wake again. She'd thought that Rosalie would understand; that the Vampire would take it all, instead of leaving her this venom, fighting inside to change her. She hoped it wasn't enough, hoped there was too little blood and not enough venom and that she wouldn't wake the next time as a monster. The screaming sound lessened, or maybe she grew used to it, and Becca forced her voice to work, choking out a word.

"Rose?" Her tone was guttural and broken. She almost didn't recognize it. The screaming lessened; lowered and stopped, replaced by harsh panting breaths.

"Becca? You're alive?" Rose's voice was filled with disbelief and horror and sounded less composed than previously. Somewhere in the agony of her mind, Becca realized that _Rose _had been the one screaming and she could almost summon the energy to wonder why.

"I think so." Was this life? Every inch of her body shouted its pain at her and she couldn't decide if it was life or hell.

"They did something; they put something in your blood." Becca didn't know if Vampires could cry but it sounded like Rose was; harsh sobs that echoed as much as the screams. "I don't know what's happening but I think… I think I'm dying." The words hit Becca like a blow- hard and harsh and she choked on a sob of her own. She didn't know; couldn't remember, couldn't focus long enough to think of it, but even if they had put something in her blood, there was nothing she could do to help.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." She'd tried to give her a chance, but instead she'd doomed them both to failure. The truth of it made her empty stomach lurch and Becca bit back a scream. She didn't have the energy to scream. "Am I going to be a Vampire?" Had she swapped her place with Rose? Would the next person shoved into their cell meet with Becca Black's gleaming red eyes? The thought made her sick with anger and fear. She didn't want to be a monster.

"I don't know. You might just die." Death would be better; kinder. Death would mean she could be reborn, and not as a Cold One. She remembered her father's funeral and the scent of burning sage; the look in Rachel's eyes as they'd washed his body; Jake as he spoke the ritual words. She could feel the warmth of the fire on her face and the pounding in her head was the drum-beat. In the darkness, her eyes closed and she sank, slipping away from the agony of her flesh and falling, down into the endless night. As she faded, she could hear Rosalie speak but the Vampire's words were swallowed by the howling of wolves and the rush of wind.

* * *

Rachel was the only one to jump when someone knocked on the front door. It was late- almost two a.m. - and any one of the Pack would have just walked in. She shook off the shiver than chased up her spine and made her way to the door instead. Paul and Jake took her seat as soon as she moved, flopping onto the sofa in a sprawl of limbs that barely left space for Will, sandwiched between them. Her boy should have been safely tucked up in bed but Paul was freaked out enough that he insisted on being in the same room as his son at all times. It was inconvenient and, frankly, disruptive but she understood.

The porch light was on so she had a perfect view of their visitor. He was tall and pale and he looked vaguely familiar but Rachel hadn't got a clue where she'd seen him. Maybe he lived around Forks, or something? The only thing she could think was that someone was missing in the woods and he needed a Ranger. That happened, sometimes, even when Paul was supposed to have days off.

"Can I help you?" She even managed a smile but it wasn't returned; his expression was somber.

"You're Rachel, right? Becca's sister?" She nodded.

"You know Becks?" Her sister hadn't mentioned that she was expecting a visitor but, well, the sudden appearance of a strange man on the Rez might explain _why_ Becca had left her husband.

"Yeah, I do. My name is Johnny; I'm a friend of Ben's. Is Becca here? I really need to speak to her." Rachel, shaking his hand, ruled out adultery because he didn't seem to be embarrassed in the least. Anytime she'd cheated on a boyfriend, she'd always at least felt bad about it. Sort of. Sometimes, anyway.

"Sorry, she's not. She's in Seattle with Ben." They'd assumed the reconciliation had gone well, seeing as Becca hadn't even called. Johnny paled, a feat made considerable by the fact that he was already a pasty shade of white.

"When did you speak to her last? Was she definitely with him?" Something in his voice told her everything that she needed to know and Rachel could feel the lump beginning to form in her throat.

"It was, uh, a couple of days ago. She left here on Thursday, I think, but… I haven't spoken to her since. Why? What's happened?" She could read it in his eyes. Four days.

"The police found Ben's body on Sunday morning. Something… something ripped him apart. There was no sign of Becca, I swear. I was coming here to tell her…" His voice trailed off and the lump in her throat turned to lead. Behind her, she could hear Jake and Paul talking in low tones but she couldn't make out the words.

"Come inside, Johnny. We have to call the police."

She closed the door softly behind him, ushering him inside to the armchair in the corner. He had his cell phone out already, dialing whoever it was he needed to call, she assumed. Jake was staring at the newcomer, his expression unreadable. Paul's eyes were on her but she couldn't look at him. She _couldn't_ look at him because she knew if she did she would cry and choke on the lump in her throat.

Ben was dead. Becca was… somewhere. The Volturi had killed one of the Cullens.

It didn't take a Crow to connect those dots. Behind her, she was vaguely aware that Charlotte was watching but Rachel could only be grateful that the hateful woman stayed silent. Supernatural shapeshifter or not, if the woman had offered as much as a single word, Rachel would have torn her throat out herself.

Johnny made his call, words spilling out at a frantic rate before handing the phone to Rachel. She dutifully relayed what little information she had to the detective and told him they would be in the city the following day to help with the search for her sister. As soon as she hung up, she couldn't even remember what she'd said, or what his name had been. Her brain was too full of thoughts to retain that information. She handed Johnny back his phone carefully, as though she would break it if she didn't take the utmost care; the same way she had handled Will when he was a newborn.

Jake demanded to know everything and she could hear the words spill from the man, desperate pleas and incoherent explanations. Outside, beyond her house, she could hear the Pack howling and she wondered which of them had been so close to the house that they'd already heard the news. Colin, she decided. He'd taken it upon himself to keep close watch over Jake in the past day or so- she'd thought it was paranoid, before, but maybe the kid was onto something.

At some point, Johnny stopped talking and Paul sent him to bed in the spare room- he was asleep in minutes, exhausted from a combination of traveling, grief and fear. And then the real fun started- Jake phased in the living room to talk to the Pack even as Paul wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in close to him. If she could have, she'd have climbed inside his warmth and tried to sleep away the nightmare that had landed on their doorstep.

But she couldn't. It was real and it was here and numbness that had spread when she realized what was happening muted the world, clouding reality with a pounding beat of _whydidn'tIknowshe'smytwinIshouldhaveknownBen'sdeadBecca'sgonelikeMomlikeDadshe'sgoneBen'sdeadBecca'sgoneIshouldhave_known_gonegonegonegonegone. _

Jake was pacing the floor and Paul was talking to her, saying something about going to lay down- was he tired? He must be tired. He looked worried. She told him to get some sleep and didn't notice his expression turn to confusion. Then Emily was there, but Rachel wasn't sure why she'd been gone, or why she'd been there in the first place and Jake was human again and talking to Paul about getting to Seattle to get the boys on the scent. It all made sense, sort of, from a distance. Like dropping a pebble into a well- you hear the splash but it's so far away that it's unreal, like a sound happening somewhere else; that someone else is listening to.

Johnny left at daybreak and his stuttered goodbyes were enough to snap her back. The sight of his red and swollen eyes, his grief so plainly written on his face, made it all terribly, hopelessly real. Ben was dead. Becca was missing. The Volturi were surely responsible for both. The moment that the sound of his engine faded, Rachel turned to her husband.

"We can't split up. That's what they want us to do; they want us to break into small groups and they'll pick us off one by one. We have one advantage here and we all know it." She turned to face Charlotte, who had Jo pressed against her side like a shield. The girl met her glare and Rachel saw real compassion there and for a moment, the bleakness receded and her heart clenched. "Your people are our best chance for finding my sister alive and if you don't do everything you can to help us then so help me God, I will tear your head off myself." Rachel wasn't a wolf. She wasn't a shapeshifter, but her eyes were fierce with grief and pain and Charlotte just nodded, wise enough to know that the anger there wasn't directed at her.

"We'll do everything in our power. Diana has spoken to every flock leader on the continent; if anyone has heard or seen anything, we'll know." Rachel met the woman's eyes again and this time, her anger had faded some. She nodded and stood up, making her way to Will's room with unfaltering steps and closing the door behind her. Paul was with the Pack, Jake was with the Cullens, but Colin was outside on the porch and Leah was in the kitchen and they all heard her angry sobs.

* * *

Jake left the Cullens with a weight of responsibility on his shoulders. The coven was grieving, understandably so, but he needed their help- he needed to find his sister and dammit, he was more than a little angry that they weren't helping _more_. Worse than that, he understood why they couldn't and that made him even more annoyed, because at least if he could be angry with them, he'd feel like he was doing something.

The sun was out, for once, and the morning was warm and dry and it was the kind of day that Becca had always loved spending at the beach and Jake forced himself to stop thinking about her like that; as if she were already dead. But the memory of what had happened to Ben flashed in his mind and he felt sick to his stomach, and he phased to wolf with that image replaying. _Torn apart_. It meant something different when it was a human, someone you knew, and not an enemy Vampire or a stranger that meant nothing to you.

_Not nothing_. Leah's voice in his ear whispered. _None of them were ever nothing._ He knew that. Hell, he felt that- he knew the names and faces of every person that had died in the previous attempt to hurt his family. There was a wall in Leah's basement, plastered with the photographs of the dead and missing and they kept it there to remember who it was they were protecting and what they were giving their time and lives to save.

He'd never really believed that he'd ever have to add one of his own to the wall but now he'd be starting with Ben and he had a horrible feeling it wasn't going to end there. They'd been lucky, so lucky, when they got Rachel home safely. Could they really be that lucky again?

He couldn't answer that, so he ran as wolf, instead, gradually checking in with whoever else had phased and keeping a tight lid on his own emotions and thoughts. The last thing the Pack needed was Jake's worry spilling out over everyone. He didn't need anyone else feeling his guilt and his heartbreak, though they all knew he had to be feeling it. Jared checked in shortly after dawn, just long enough to tell Jake that he and Embry were getting into a car and heading toward Seattle, where he planned to meet up with Sam, Mike and Tony and search out Becca. Five, with support from Jo and Charlotte in the air, Jake had decided. Five would have to be enough and he felt sick to his stomach that he couldn't be one of them. He _couldn't_ be; he had to trust Sam and Jared to do the best that could be done and he had to be on the rez to deal with whatever it was the Crows were going to throw at him, and whatever stupid memorial service the Cullens decided on.

He'd left the house as they were planning it- making calls to all their Vampire friends and Emmett was just sitting in the corner of the living room, staring into space and it was all Jake could do to not shake the Vampire and demand every piece of information he could remember.

Edward promised that he saw no sign of Becca in Emmett's mind but that wasn't as comforting as Edward had intended it to be, Jake thought. He'd rather know, for sure, where she was- even if they didn't know _where_ that was. The morning passed slowly, like a dream he was watching from a distance. The boys left, heading to Seattle and taking Charlotte with them. He made a point of talking to Jo alone, briefly, before they left, reassuring the girl that he wasn't expecting miracles and that she was part of his Pack now, regardless of what happened. She'd been worried, he knew, that if Rebecca wasn't found that the Crows would be exiled from the peninsula.

He'd wonder about how he knew that when no-one had said anything; when even Tony didn't know, when he had time to think about it. Sometime when Becca hadn't been kidnapped by Vampires and there wasn't an influx of _other_ Vamps on their way. He should have told the Cullens that they couldn't do it, but he hadn't got the heart to deny Esme anything. Distantly, he was aware that if Rosalie had been there, she would have insisted on getting his permission first but that ache was small in comparison to the gnawing worry over Becca.

He phased back to human for lunch and ate with Leah and Seth in silence. Seth tried, once or twice, to make conversation, but Jake was operating on auto-pilot and he barely heard the words. He felt like someone had put him on pause and he was waiting for someone to press the play button, again.

Of course, it was Leah who tried it- dragging him into their room for (nominal) privacy and shutting the door behind them.

"Jake, you have to snap out of this. I know what's happening and I get it; I do, but the Pack needs you right now." He was staring into space, eyes vacant, and she felt herself grow frustrated. "I need you, okay? I need you to pull yourself together and work with me on this one." She'd spent most of the previous night on the phone to Diana, trying to figure out where the Flocks should be searching and what they should be doing. She did her best to think of everything but what the hell did she know about Vampire habits, especially ancient ones? The Cullens were hardly a good example of anything Vampire and the only others she'd ever spent time with were the ones she'd killed. Not much to work with, really.

"We should have expected this." He said, suddenly. "I should have expected this and I should have known that Ben and Becks were our weak link- everyone else lives on the Rez and checks in every day. Becks was our weak link, just like Rachel was last year and I didn't learn from that." There was anger in his tone- actual emotion for the first time all day. "I thought we were safe and that they'd left us alone but what they were doing was _waiting_. I should have known, Leah. My job is to keep us safe and I let her get taken by the Volturi and I didn't even notice." He was sitting on their bed, fists clenching and unclenching in an attempt to control his temper and Leah almost sighed with relief.

Anger, she could handle. Anger, she was familiar with.

"That's our job, Jake. You're right. But Becca is a grown woman- she's been married for years and living away from here and we had no reason to think that they'd come for us this week, anymore than any other week. They had her before we knew about Rose. There's nothing we could have done to prevent that." She was careful to keep her own voice calm because nothing set Jake off worse than someone else's anger. She thought it was the alpha in him, unable to back down from a challenge, even from her.

"I know that, Lee, I _do_ but it doesn't… that doesn't change anything. She's still gone and she was still my responsibility." And like magic, his anger was gone and he deflated, dropping his head into his hands. She sat beside him and wrapped one arm around his shoulders and reached out with the other hand to run her fingers through his hair. It was longer, now, resting at shoulder-length. It suited him long and she loved it.

"We don't know where she is, but we don't know that she's dead, okay? We can't give up on her yet- we're looking for Becca, not for Becca's body." _She's more useful to them if they keep her alive_, she thought, but decided against saying it aloud. Jake and Rachel were the only ones who knew what happened to Rachel when she was held by Joham and a tiny, terrified part of Leah suspected that the real reason behind their shared horror was that knowledge. Rachel was the only one of them to have ever spent any time with a red-eyed Vamp, and she was the only one who could even imagine what could be happening to her sister. The thought quelled Leah's frustrations, realizing that the Black siblings had every reason to worry. They didn't need to imagine, either- they could remember.

Under her arms, Jake shook a little, choking on an emotion that he refused to express. Gradually, he began to lean into her and she could rest her head on his shoulder, burying her nose in his neck and breathing in the scent of him. Pine; salt and earth and so much more- home and family and Pack and love, all tinged with an undercurrent of grief. Her heart ached in response, but she knew there was little she could say or do that would make a difference. So she just held on and hoped it would be enough, for now, to get Jake back to himself and away from whatever black hole he was teetering toward. She wasn't heartless; she knew how he was feeling because she had some small fraction of the same response herself… but she needed Jake to be the Alpha, now, and to be Becca's kid brother later and if that was heartless and cruel, then she'd have to learn to live with that.

They stayed there for what could have been hours but which was closer to thirty minutes, unmoving and silent, until Jake stopped shaking and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"The boys should be in Seattle soon." He commented, his voice sounding almost normal and he sat up. She could see life back in his eyes and the relief that washed over her took away any fear that she'd be making it worse by talking to him. "I'm gonna phase and be there with them, but I want to talk to Diana first." He glanced at her and stood up, dragging her up with him. "I have an idea, but I want to run it past her first."

"I thought we were in the stage of negotiations where you hate the Crows and want to roast them all on a spit at the next bonfire?" That had certainly been what he'd been imagining before Johnny had arrived and dropped his bombshell about Ben, and for a second Leah wondered if she should even mention it. But Jake's responding grin was a little more feral than usual and the gleam in his eyes was something she had seen before- the wolf spirit that had protected his body on his spirit quest was shining out through him. Leah couldn't decide if that was good or bad. She'd seen it since then, too, but usually it was in the middle of a Hunt, in wolf form, or during some particularly uh… _enthusiastic_, sex. Seeing those predator's eyes staring out from Jake's face was unnerving, but she bit back her questions- anything was better than emptiness.

"The Crows aren't our enemy. They want things and don't know what _asking_ is, but I know we need them." The Quileutes had no medicine man and Old Quil was aging rapidly. What they knew of their history was in the notebooks and sketch-pads that Quil had been using to write down his grandfather's stories, and there was so much missing that no-one living remembered. The Crows might remember (that was their job, they said), and they had discussed several times sending Quil to Billings to discover it for himself. With the knowledge that the legends they _did_ remember held some truth, the whole Pack wondered what else was out there; _who_ else was out there. Diana, for all her annoyances, was willing to answer their questions and Jake had learned more from her than his father had ever been able to teach him about their culture- not just the Quileutes, but of the entirety of the Native peoples.

Diana had forgotten more about Native culture than Old Quil had ever known and yeah, she might well have had Charlotte seduce Joshua Uley while he was married with the intention of birthing a link to the Quileute wolves, and she was definitely manipulative and secretive and a bunch of other –ives, but Jake was certain that she was on his side. He could feel it in his bones. There was a reason that she had chosen the Quileutes, had chosen himself and Leah, to harbor her so-called 'damaged' shifters, and Jake had to hope that whatever the reason was, she'd do her best to see them all through this alive and unhurt. He had to believe that.

"What's the plan?" Leah brought him back out of his thoughts and he could see the concern in her eyes and deliberately pulled her flush against him and pressed a kiss to her lips. He could almost feel her relax in his arms and he allowed himself some relief.

"The plan is pretty simple- Diana is going to find my sister and we're going to destroy the Volturi one by one until they're all dead or in hiding." She raised an eyebrow, quizzical.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly is she going to do that?"

His returning grin was definitely wolfish, no question.

"The same way we found Rachel- Diana is going to teach us how to spirit walk."

She'd offered, once, as a half-joke and Jake had dismissed it as such, thinking that the drug was the catalyst to his last experience and not wanting to feel so disconnected again. But somewhere, deep in the darkness of his mind, he'd always remembered her offer; always considered the possibility.

There was more to being a shifter than a simple change of shape; there was more to spirit walking than drug induced multiple-personality disorder and there was more to being Native than the colour of his skin.

"She'll be here tonight." Leah sounded dazed, almost confused, but there was a thread of excitement in her voice, too.

"Good." Voice firm and eyes wild, Jake stepped back from her and stripped off his tee-shirt and jeans. For a second, she thought he was going to throw her on the bed and find another way of distracting himself for the afternoon, but she was a little disappointed when he phased, instead, resuming his wolf shape in their bedroom. She opened the door, grinning as he nosed at her hand and ran his tongue across the back of her thighs, indicating that he had, indeed, noticed her disappointment. She swatted him on the head, nearly cheerful, and shooed him out of the house. Seth, seating at the kitchen table with a giant mug of coffee in one hand, glanced up and saw her grin.

"I don't even _want_ to know."

* * *

Back in the woods, the scent and sounds of the Pack surrounded him. This time, instead of remaining distant and alone, Jake wallowed in his brothers; in the feelings and thoughts and laughter that they managed to find, even when facing another Vampire war. Paul and Brady were trading dirty jokes and Colin was trying to explain _To Kill a Mockingbird_ to Tim, without much success. He'd held them apart, not wanting them to feel the hollowness where his fear and anger had burrowed in, but now he let them see; let them feel it. They were every bit as much his family as Becca, every bit as important to him and the sudden wave of affection that washed over all the phased wolves silenced their thoughts, just for a moment.

Colin snapped out of it first, reacting with his own wave of affection and joy but also with a snarky comment about how their Alpha had been neutered, which allowed the rest to laugh and joke and Jake relaxed into the feeling of the Pack around him. He'd held himself apart to save them the pain he was feeling, but he'd forgotten that he needed them as much as they needed him. He resolved to not forget that again.

* * *

In Seattle, Mike phased in the underground car-park of Becca's hotel and - grudgingly- allowed Jared to loop an over-sized choke chain around his neck, complaining all the time about being treated like a bloodhound. Mike had the best nose- there was no denying it,- but the rush of pride he felt at that praise was washed out by Jared, talking to the police in charge of searching for Becca, explaining that he was some kind of elk-hound/ wolf crossbreed. Only a blind idiot would believe it, but Charlotte had reassured them several times that people want to believe what you tell them; people don't see lies and machinations when they aren't expecting them.

Jared was carrying Jake's I.D (Leah's idea) and Sam toted Paul's- no-one would question the presence of the brother and brother-in-law of the missing girl, and the officers didn't look closely enough at the driver's licenses to spot that they the wrong guys were standing in front of them. With tightly-cut hair and serious expressions, coupled with Native features and massive height, the Pack all looked alike if you didn't know them. Someone more used to the Quileutes may have noticed the swap but neither of the officers at the hotel noticed. Instead, their attention was on the _dog_ that they'd brought along- Jared spouting some bullshit about having trained him to track since he was a pup. Mike tolerated being cooed at and petted, all the while promising death and dismemberment to Jared in his mind, to howls of laughter from the Pack on the peninsula.

Tony lingered across the road from the hotel, ostensibly on the phone but watching the area carefully and scenting the air for eau de leech. Jo and Charlotte took to the skies, eyes scanning the crowds for any tell-tale sparkles, unlikely though it was. Seattle was overcast and it was drizzling, already. If the Vampires were out, they wouldn't be doing a disco-ball impression, but they were still pale and unacceptably beautiful; if there were any around, the Crows would spot them. No-one noticed a single Crow in a city, even if that Crow was larger than normal and more intelligent than it had any right to be. From his vantage point, Tony could see the birds circling and spinning and he felt a moment of envy, wondering what it would be like to fly like that, but his thoughts were distracted by Jared, Sam and Mike reappearing from inside the hotel. Behind them trailed two police officers; two men who would be tall and burly looking in any other setting but next to the two Quileute shifters, appeared like small children trailing after their big brothers.

He followed at a distance, almost a quarter-mile between them. Too far to follow their conversation but he could tell by their body language that Mike was following _something_. He wished, suddenly, that he was wolf too so he could know what and any remaining wonderings about what it would be like to be Crow fled his mind. If he were Crow, he wouldn't have his brothers and there was nothing that flying could give him that would be able to replace that. He followed for almost two miles, deep into the centre of Seattle and almost lost them when Jared turned abruptly into an alleyway beside a swanky French restaurant- he knew it was French, but Tony couldn't pronounce the name. Something _du jour_. It surely wasn't relevant. He couldn't see inside the alleyway but he heard Mike whining- he would have heard that from miles away because it was as much inside his heart and head as it was in his ears.

_They found something._

He closed his eyes and prayed that they hadn't found her body.

* * *

A/N: Oh my god, this chapter took so long to eek out. It was like trying to nail jelly to a wall and while I'm still not entirely happy with it, I'd rather have it be out there with you guys than still stuck in my brain, wobbling.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I'm not S. Meyer.

A/N: My god, you guys, I really didn't intend this to take so long. I'm so slow, it's not funny- I'm really sorry for the delay, but... here goes, anyway. Hopefully this is coherent. Lol.

* * *

Rosalie could hear the door opening but she couldn't even move to see who it was. Her body was an agony of fire and pain, and it was all she could do keep her eyes open. She could see Becca on the ground beside her and the sight would have been enough to make her vomit, were she human. The woman's veins were prominent; dark ropes under her skin, throbbing and pulsing and the wound at her wrist where Rosalie had bitten her was an angry red mark, smudged with blood and venom.

Through her own pain, Rosalie could tell that the venom was doing something, but whether there was enough to turn her, Rose couldn't tell. It had been a long time since she'd seen a _normal_ turning- both Emmett and Bella had been grievously wounded when they'd been turned and so their change was both slower and more painful than normal as their bodies fought to die even as the venom tried to change them. But Becca… she'd been hungry, sure, and she'd been ready to die, it seemed, but she hadn't been _hurt_ or damaged. Rose just couldn't tell.

The Italian vampires at the door- she didn't know their names- spoke quietly to one another. She thought they sounded confused and annoyed, but she didn't understand the words. It didn't take long, though, for them to turn their attention to her, speaking English in clipped, tense tones.

"What have you done? Don't try to lie; you cannot lie to me." The vampire- tall, wiry, with dark hair and eyes- turned her head to face him and she met his stare.

"I did what you wanted." Her voice was a croak and she had never felt so powerless. "I drank."

"What did you do to yourself, _stupido_?" He wrenched her head again, pulling her by the hair and the movement sent a jolt of agony up her spine; she couldn't hold back a yelp and the Italian almost smiled before repeating the motion.

Her cries were weak- she had barely any strength left, as it was, and the blood she'd taken from Becca had done nothing to nourish her, only hurt.

"I did nothing." She struggled for air as he clenched her throat in one fist. "Your people did something. You put something in her blood." Her eyes rolled closed, so she didn't see the confusion marring his flawless face and the throbbing in her head masked whatever words the two spoke. If she could have passed out, she would have- but as a Vampire, the closest she could come was to retreat inside herself. They seemed to be arguing, but whatever was happening, neither of them was happy.

It dragged for long minutes, until finally the man snapped and spun back to her. She barely noticed when he hauled her across the floor and out the door, dragging her by the hair. The cold, bare ground under her and the bright lights above would be uncomfortable, normally, but she could barely feel any of it.

When her eyes opened again, she was propped on a table. Shiny, dark wood beneath her skin and something soft under her head. They hadn't bothered to restrain her and that rankled, but there was nothing she could do, weak as she was. There were more of them- five, this time- and two of the scents she recognized. Alec and Jane, the ones who had captured her. Rose didn't think she'd ever hated anyone as much as she hated them, now. She doubted that she would ever hate someone else so much again. Even if they let her go, she couldn't leave; she couldn't even stand.

She noticed the second they hauled Emmett into the room and she could tell by scent alone that he was starving. His voice washed over her and her heart ached, realizing how much she had missed him. He was screaming and calling her name but all she could do was whisper his in return and hope that he could hear her.

He was behind her, somewhere, caught between at least two of the guards- maybe three. She could hear him begging them to let her go; to let her up. He must not have been able to see her; see that she was free to move, if she could move. Her eyes, fluttering open, (when had they closed again?) told her that there was another Italian standing by her table. The one from her cell and he was grinning at Emmett. Rosalie wished she could punch him; spit in his face and pound him into the ground.

"You drink, and we will let her go." Another scent floated past; scared and human and male. "Your service in exchange for her life." She knew without thinking that Emmett would do it. Of course he would- he wouldn't _want_ to, but he would do it all the same. She knew because she would have done the same in his place. All the same, she had to try and stop him but her voice betrayed her and she couldn't even croak out the _No_ that was lodged in her throat. _No_. _No. Not Emmett. You can't have Emmett. _Her eyes closed and she almost welcomed the darkness as she listened to the sound of teeth sinking into flesh and the last sobbing screams of a dead man.

It was over quickly.

"Tear it apart and dump it. That blood-sack will never be one of us." She heard ripping and tearing and squeezed her eyes shut tighter, as if that could block the sound. Then there was silence, save for Emmett's whispered words. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she pretended he was talking to her, telling her that he loved her and that everything would be okay.

"So. What shall we do with you now, hmm?" The slightest movement of air told her that the Italian had moved from her side.

"Do whatever you want. Just let Rose go." Only one of the Cullens would have recognized the despair and self-loathing in Emmett's voice. To others he would sound calm, almost collected. The blood must have given him strength, she realized and her heart swelled with hope. If Emmett could get away- if she knew that he was okay and that he would be fine, then she could die. It would be okay if she died knowing that.

The other vampire laughed, and he was joined by his fellows- even Alec and Jane laughed, though the sound was more... sadistic than amused.

"Let me have him. Please, Gio." _Gio_ sighed, a mockery of disappointment and Jane giggled.

"I'm afraid not, my sweet."

Emmett had been staring at Rose, but his gaze snapped back to Gio. The Italian stood in front of him, smirking, and the blood in Emmett's stomach roiled. He felt as though he could be sick. What was wrong with Rose? What had they done to her?

"Hold him still. Watch carefully, Mr. Cullen." In a movement that only another Vampire could track, Gio was back at Rose's side. His eyes remained on Emmett, staring and anticipating. With a grin, he reached out to her, running his fingers through her hair almost gently. And then he reached down, gripped her head with one hand and braced his other on her neck and he _pulled_ and Rosalie Hale died.

As flames engulfed the table- her funeral pyre, Emmett thought idly- Gio returned to his side.

"Get him out of here. He is no use to us now." And he was dragged away, not even protesting, with the scent of burning clinging to his skin as his last reminder of Rose.

And somewhere in the depths of whatever hell she'd been trapped in, Becca Black lay on the hard, cold ground, dying; changing; forgotten.

* * *

Leah felt the tension in the back of her head release with a rush; around her, the boys all relaxed marginally. There was no body in the alley, but there was blood and belongings and they were Becca's. Mike was chanting something; repeating the lyrics to a song in his head over and over to distract himself from the scent of blood. Any other time it would have been irritating, because Mike only knew one line from the chorus and even his mental voice was off-key. But they could all see through his eyes; could see the cops lingering in the alleyway and smell the tension rising from Jared and Sam.

The Quileutes were exiled from the alleyway but they could hear every word that was spoken- and none of it was positive. Even knowing that there was a whole other (Volturi) factor to Becca's kidnapping, hearing the police say that they thought she was dead was really difficult. Jake withdrew into himself, pulling his emotions back inside himself so that the others wouldn't feel his panic and pain. Leah tried to do the same herself, though she wasn't sure how successful she was- she forced herself to concentrate on Mike's singing, chanting the words along with him, even though she'd never even heard the song. It seemed to work; some of the fear ebbed and the rising panic was averted.

_Mike, can you trace it any further? _She asked, quietly. Sometimes, it was possible to be quiet in the Pack.

_No. There's nothing. Wherever they took her from here, it was in a van or a car or something._ And there was only the barest of hints of Vampire scent and it was nothing they could follow.

_Okay, cool. Good work anyway. Get out of there and we'll regroup._

Jake had filled everyone in on the plan, such that it was. No-one was thrilled with the prospect of trusting Diana with anything, but Jake's conviction that she could, and would, teach them was enough to convince the others. There was something to be said for the unshakable influence of the Alpha.

Mike followed Jared back to the hotel, leaving Sam with the cops and Tony watching him from across the street. The buddy system was being firmly employed, with the Crows warned to watch out for Embry, on pain of plucking and roasting. Jo had laughed at the threat; Charlotte hadn't even cracked a smile. Leah had taken it as proof that the sense of humour was genetic to the Quileutes and that the Crows were naturally humourless. Charlotte hadn't thought that was funny, either.

The day wore on and the Pack grew restless. The boys prowled Seattle, scenting for Vampire along the docks; in the industrial districts; anywhere they could think of that the Volturi might settle inside the city. They all knew it was unlikely that they were still in Seattle, or even Washington state, but they had to keep busy somehow and there was nothing else they could do in the city with no money and no interest. They ate, they walked and they sniped at one another. Embry felt bad, later, for actually enjoying himself despite the circumstances- the three Uley children had dinner together, swapping stories and getting to know one another and when Embry phased in afterward, everyone knew how much it had meant to him. Sam, even later still, was quieter on the subject but there was a thread of contentment in him that Leah couldn't ever remember feeling before.

It was nice, to see something growing in the midst of catastrophe, even if that something was part of a larger, more worrying whole.

Leah felt as though she spent the day waiting. First, for news from Seattle and then for Diana's arrival. There was nothing anyone could do to get her there any faster, though Jake had suggested sending Edward to fetch her. He could probably make the trip faster than any car journey, though maybe not as quickly as the Crows could fly.

But Diana was driving because it was difficult to use a cell phone while flying, which Leah could appreciate- especially as Diana was on the phone, running down every lead she could to narrow the search for the Volturi. They'd had no word, yet, of anything that might be a _anything_ but she didn't find it to surprising- even the Crows didn't have people in every small town on the continental US. They were doing what they could and she couldn't ask for anything more than that. The Cullens… well- she could ask for a hell of a lot more from them, seeing as they hadn't shown the slightest interest in finding Becca. They hadn't even seemed too bothered that the Volturi were in the US again, though surely that was something that should worry them? Leah wondered, briefly, how confident they all were of Bella's blocking ability and if it was making them careless. She thought that maybe she was being too harsh- grief was overwhelming, especially to a family of Immortals who really weren't expecting it. Not that there was ever any _expecting_ to death and grief.

Still, Emmett was the only one she could really forgive. He'd been there; he'd watched her die and he'd been cast off by the Volturi afterwards (or escaped, whatever). And Emmett, of them all, had been the only one to notice Jake's grief and worry about Becca; he'd forced himself to relive it all, searching his memory for any clues about the human. Edward and Jasper had relived it with him; one seeing everything and one feeling the pain. It was difficult, watching them through Jake's memory.

She supposed it was comforting, sort of, that at least the Cullens were calling in backup, though they were referring to it as a funeral. Emmett said Rosalie had been burned to ash, already, so perhaps memorial would be closer to truth. In her harsh moments, Leah thought the whole thing was just another excuse for Alice to play dress up and decorate, but even she knew she was being too cruel with that one. Alice was grieving, same as the rest, and mourning the loss of trust in her visions at the same time. Whatever the Volturi had or hadn't done, they had certainly learned a way around Alice. It made Leah wary of trusting any of the Vamp's gifts- if Alice could be bypassed, then surely the others could be bypassed, too? She couldn't help but wonder, especially when it came to Bella. Alice's visions had been trusted for years- centuries, maybe, for all Leah knew- and Bella had far less experience.

Jake had agreed with Leah when she'd suggested that kidnapping Rose and Emmett was actually a test of whatever block the Volturi had, now. The thought was not comforting because obviously, the Volturi had passed with flying colours and the good guys were left chasing their tails. Once again, it seemed like their only advantage against their enemies was going to be the Crows and relying on someone else to not know something was a flimsy plan at best. But the Crows had superior numbers and were helping- so Leah wasn't going to complain until Becca was back home, safe and sound. And then she'd happily never see another Crow on the Rez. Ever. The thought of being reliant on them made her skin crawl, even though she knew- rationally, when she could pause for rationality- that they could be trusted.

She watched through Jake's eyes as Diana's car made its way toward the reservation and took her cue to phase back to human and get dressed. She met the Crow elder at the meeting hall- Jake's decision; something about it being more formal, or something. He was on his way; she could feel his approach as if someone were tickling her spine. Diana wasn't alone, which she hadn't quite anticipated. The guy with her was nervous; twitchy, almost, and looking around him as though he was expecting an attack. He was Native, but aside from being pretty sure he wasn't Quileute, Leah couldn't I.D his tribe. He was around Daniel's height, close to Sam's age and skinny- almost emaciated, really. She guessed he was Crow, because he seemed to be deferring to Diana. Sort of. He was hiding behind the Crow leader, folded in on himself, and Leah wasn't sure what to think about that.

"Leah, I wish I could say it was a pleasure to see you again." Cordial, cool and collected, as ever, but Leah had spent enough time with the Crows to hear the tremble of _something_ in the other woman's voice.

"Likewise." She nodded toward the stranger. "Who's your friend?" The man had yet to even look at her.

"This is Nicky. He's one of mine." She glanced back at him but he didn't seem to notice. "Or he was, until today. He's your responsibility now." Leah scowled but said nothing. She should have guessed that the Crow would snatch at the first opportunity she could to get a foot in the door. "Nicky, get your gear. We have work to do." The guy nodded (almost) and trotted back to the car, returning with several cases and a large box. Leah didn't even ask- she was sick of asking Diana for answers that she knew she wouldn't get. Or worse, that she wouldn't understand. She led them inside, through the meeting hall and into Jake's office at the back. Nicky, she noticed, seemed to relax when he was inside, tension ebbing from his body with every step. He didn't say a word, though, just moved Jake's things off the desk and opened up his bags, setting out his laptop and making himself comfortable in Jake's chair.

"What are you doing? Does he talk? Do you talk?" Leah would forgive herself later for being slightly incoherent.

"Of course." He didn't offer anything else, though, turning his attention to the computer screen and his back to her.

"Nicky is a computer wizard- he's got a search running, filtering news reports to track the Italians." Leah was pretty sure that, if questioned, Diana wouldn't really know what that meant but she was going to let it slide. If it worked, it would help them to find Becca, right? Twitchy or not, Nicky suddenly sounded like a handy guy to have around. Leah couldn't help but wonder, then, why Diana would be sending him away.

"Why's he here, then? Why does he need to be?" She didn't even bother addressing the man- he had headphones on, now, and she could hear electro-pop blaring from across the room. She wasn't sure he if he could hear her or not. Given the look of concentration on his face as he flicked from page to page on his web browser, she guessed that he didn't want to, even if he could.

"He's very good with computers, Leah. So good, in fact, that he is currently on the F.B.I watch-list." Diana frowned, clearly unhappy. "He doesn't like crowds and he doesn't like being away from his laptop for any length of time. He won't speak unless he is spoken to and he only shifts form if he absolutely has to." Diana glanced over at him, her expression fond. "He is also my husband's nephew, so it goes without saying that I expect him to be treated well here." Leah heard what she wasn't saying, too, the implicit warning in her silent stare.

"He's ours now, Diana. You have no say anymore." Jake's voice was so deep it was almost more grumble than voice and Leah was pleased to hear it. Even Nicky looked over, startled. None of them had heard Jake approaching, though Leah had felt him drawing closer. "Kid, come with me. Lee, there's coffee in the next room if you're interested." To her surprise, Nicky bounced out of his chair and followed Jake- Leah guessed that the shock on Diana's face was a mirror of her own.

"I hate it when he does that."

"Does what? I've never seen Nick do that with _anyone_." Leah grinned, enjoying the moment.

"He's using the Alpha whammy. It's very effective." The, uh, _whammy_ had been named by Kim when she first saw it in action- the gravitational force that Jake exerted over the Pack, seemingly without effort. Leah hadn't expected the new guy to be so quickly affected. "Has Nick got some Quileute blood somewhere in his family tree, d'ya think?" Diana shook her head slowly, something gleaming in her eyes that Leah couldn't decipher. "Okay then- let's get down to work. Jake won't be long and if you have any news, now would be the time to share it."

Diana agreed easily, turning to her bag and retrieving both her cell phone and an address book. Leah, in the momentary distraction, took her chance to take a deep breath and settle her nerves. Jake was making their first payment, then and there in the meeting centre, and she could only hope that their new Pack member was always so agreeable. Dimly, she hoped that he possessed at least _some_ common sense- they didn't have time for drama.

Well. Any _more_ drama.

"Come on. Let's get coffee and get to work. You've had a long drive and I've had a long week and the sooner we get caught up, the sooner I can sleep some." It wasn't likely, but she could hope, right?

* * *

Jake hadn't been sure what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to react to his new… Pack member? Charge? Prisoner? He'd followed Diana's car into La Push, racking his brains to remember everything he'd ever heard about accepting someone new onto the Reservation. It wasn't like he could just _become_ Quileute, right? But he was Native and he was a Shifter, so Jake was willing to assume that there was a difference; that there could be a difference. Maybe.

Whatever- he just needed to know that the kid (who was older than him, sure, but a kid nonetheless) would listen to him and do what he was told, just like the others. The council had rules and regulations for joining the tribe, but Jake wasn't familiar with them- it wasn't as though there were dozens of applicants waiting to join. There were federal guidelines, too, but somewhere in his gut he was sure that the Ancestors couldn't care less about what the federal government thought. The rest of the Pack were spectacularly unhelpful- no-one knew anything and no-one had thought to approach Old Quil and, you know, _ask_. There was too much going on and too much at stake.

He watched from a distance as Leah led the Crows inside and he phased at the edge of the woods and got dressed- barefoot, again, but at least the shorts he was wearing were somewhat clean and he actually had a shirt, for once. He thought the shirt might originally have been Paul's, but it still counted. He wasn't trying to be quiet when he opened the door and made his way down the hallway- but they didn't notice him straight away, Leah and Diana both watching as the Crow man set out his computers. Up close, he looked less like a man and more like a kid- underfed, with bags under his eyes and a twitchiness that Jake didn't like. His scent was weak, washed out by Leah's and Diana's and it was difficult to pinpoint the _Crow;_ the scent of feathers that always burned his nose with the others.

He wasn't sure how to make this stranger his family, though he could see for himself that there was something the other man needed; something he wasn't getting where he was and Jake almost wished the answer was something as obvious as _food_. He was only standing in the doorway for a moment, the briefest snapshot of what was going on, before he could feel something building at the back of his neck and across his shoulders; a kind of pressure, as if someone were holding him down, or pushing him forward.

"He's ours now, Diana. You have no say anymore." She jumped a little, startled, but Jake's eyes were on Nick, who met his stare, unflinching. The tension on his shoulders eased, pulsing out. Leah raised her eyebrows in question, but he ignored her, concentrating; holding Nick's stare. He'd explain later. Hell, he'd explain when he understood it himself, maybe. "Kid, come with me. Lee, there's coffee in the next room if you're interested." She wouldn't be happy, being left to deal with Diana alone, but there was something niggling in the back of his brain, telling him what he needed to do and he needed Diana out of the way.

She'd given the boy away; she couldn't interfere with him any longer. Nick looked away first, bouncing out of his seat and across the room with a speed that Jake wouldn't have thought him capable of- certainly faster than the Pack could move; faster than he'd seen even Jo move. He followed, sticking close by Jake as he led him down the hallway and out the back door to where he could see the forest. They didn't go any further- Jake had things he needed to do and so did Nick. He wouldn't forget that finding Becca was his priority, regardless of whatever else needed to be done. The scent of pine and salt in the air relaxed him some, like always.

"What brings you to La Push, Nicky?" Outside, he seemed paler. Ill, almost, and Jake couldn't help but wonder. What could make a shifter look so sick?

"I can't be a Crow anymore, Diana says." Nick's eyes darted away, glancing to the forest. He took a few deep breaths and Jake just watched him, waiting. "I frighten her, I think." He licked his lips, tasting salt.

"Why?" He couldn't risk Will around someone who might be dangerous. Nick's eyes were on the sky and his cheeks had flushed.

"Because when I change, I don't want to come back. I change and I… forget what I'm not." With his eyes on the skies and standing with his whole body twitching, Jake could see it, the _eagerness_. The _longing._ "So I stay inside." He seemed to force a shudder, pull his gaze back to Jake and the younger man was briefly stunned.

"Okay. Wow. Okay… thank you. For telling me." The feeling in his stomach was changing; shifting toward dread and apprehension- Jake was many things, but psychotherapist he was decidedly not. "I'll be honest- I don't know what Diana expects me to do with that, but we'll manage. You're one of mine now so if you need anything then you ask, alright?" The tension on his shoulders eased and Nicky nodded and even offered a small smile.

"Sure thing, boss." Jake rolled his eyes, huffed a laugh and Nicky's smile widened a fraction. "I'm not going to be trouble, I swear. I just… I can't stay there any more. They're not… it's too hard." He sounded exhausted, and there was an underlying _something_. He looked amazed, too, to hear himself speak but Jake ignored that- he'd learn, pretty quickly, that it was difficult to hold anything back from the Pack Alphas.

"Just give me some warning if the Feds are going to turn up, demanding I turn you over, okay?" He didn't even want to know what someone had to be capable of to be on the watch-list. Some pretty serious shit, he was willing to bet. Nick nodded, his grin fading, and he ducked his head and Jake frowned. "I don't know what else to say. We haven't had anyone join the tribe in years, so… welcome, I guess? Good to have you." He said it with a wide grin, clasping one hand around Nick's shoulder and with the words, the pressure on his shoulders eased completely, as if it was never there. "Come on, we've got work to do."

With one last glance at the sky and taking a deep breath, Nicky turned and walked inside. Jake followed, wondering what the hell he was getting himself into.

Nick led the way back to Jake's office and the Alpha wasn't too surprised to find that Diana had tacked a large map to one way and was busy marking it with little red stickers. On closer inspection, he noticed a scattering of little black markers, too, but there were far fewer of those. If there was a pattern yet, he couldn't see it.

"What have we got?" Leah was propped against the desk, coffee mug in hand. She looked tired. And sad, he thought, though she seemed to be trying to hide it. He crossed the room to sit by her side, sliding one arm behind her back to hold himself up- that he simultaneously pulled her closer to him was a happy coincidence. She dropped her head to his shoulder briefly and he buried his nose in her hair; kissing the top of her head and pressing into her. The closeness was nice; he could feel himself relaxing a little more, just knowing she was there with him.

He'd never admit it to the Pack, of course, but all she had to do was be there and he'd feel better, mostly.

"If you're finished, we do have work to do?" The Crow Elder's voice was shrill and abrasive and Jake had to bite back a snarl. _She was here to help_. He had to keep reminding himself of that. _She was _actually_ kind of his friend._ Undoubtedly a bitch, true, but there were some people who'd happily remind him that he seemed to _like_ bitches.

"Why don't you fill us in, then?" Leah snapped, not holding back the bite in her own voice and Jake grinned into her hair before lifting his head and turning his attention to the Crow. She fake-smiled and turned back to the map on the wall.

"These are all the instances of violent death across the country in the past month. Black means multiple bodies; red means just one." Oh god… there were dozens, scattered across the country. His shock must have shown on his face, because Diana's smile became gentler. "Don't worry- not all of them are even remotely what we're looking for. Nick has been very thorough." Her smile gentled even further as she spoke to her nephew and he reddened a little, embarrassed. "We've got it narrowed down, I think, to this area." She brandished a marker in a rough circle, covering about half of Washington and most of Idaho. "We have people with the Coeur d'Alene tribe in Worley," She jabbed her marker at the northernmost tip of Idaho, "and they're mobilizing now. The Coeur d'Alene is a big tribe, as far as we go these days, but they don't know much about shifting and even less about Cold Ones." She sounded equal parts sad and dismissive.

"They're that close?" He was surprised his voice wasn't shaking. He'd expected them to be further away. Much, much further away. Not… Idaho. Idaho was close; Idaho was _next door._ He was suddenly, savagely, glad that Embry was in Seattle.

"How'd you work that out?" Diana and Nick shared a glance and she gestured to him to talk.

"It's simple, really, if you know what you're looking for." He was staring at his computer screen again, shoulders hunched forward. "I've cross-referenced the reports of violent deaths with vehicle thefts; sightings and missing person's reports. In the past month, there's been a rise in the number of reported break-ins and thefts in Northwest Idaho; North East Washington and some of the Southern Canadian territories." He shrugged, dismissing the work as nothing impressive though Jake couldn't begin to imagine how it was done. "Not a huge increase, but enough that it paints a picture." He coughed once, almost nervous, and kept talking. "A hardware store reports a break-in and all that was stolen were some lengths of chain; a builder's yard is missing a cement mixer; a furniture outlet reporting a fire…"

"Someone's setting up home base." Leah guessed. She sounded confident, but her face had paled. "Any idea where?"

Nick's shoulders hunched forward even more and Jake could read the tension in his back- he really _didn't_ like to talk. Luckily for Nick, Diana was only too ready to take up the slack.

"We're starting the search across the Coeur d'Alene reservation, but it's a big place- lots of space to hide and lots of places to hide someone. Your Vampire friend, he remembers being underground, so we're starting with abandoned mines and cave systems." Diana's confidence made him feel a little better, somehow. Normally, it was frustrating when she acted as if she knew better than him, but today he kind of appreciated it. "They let him go somewhere in Colorado and he couldn't remember how long he'd been driving around for, so we don't know for sure but… this is Nick's best guess and he's the best I have." Their _best_ was doing his best to climb inside the computer screen and was, probably, batshit insane. Jake chose to ignore that.

"What makes you so sure, Nicky?" Leah, it seemed, wasn't going to take it at face value though. He actually turned to look at her, eyes narrowed.

"They've left a trail. Kidnappings; dead people- across the country for days and days." He even stood, moving to the map and joining the dots from New Mexico to Idaho with a steady hand. "Plus, it's an Indian Reservation." His tone implied _duh_.

"Isn't that a bit obvious?" She was skeptical, and Jake couldn't blame her. It sounded too… easy. Too clean.

"Maybe they want to be obvious; maybe, they want to be found."

Jake couldn't stop the shiver that crept down his spine at that.


End file.
